Carmen's Wish
by 0-holy-water-0
Summary: Sn1: Carmen loved life, but vampires had to ruin it. In Mystic Falls, she deals with loss and many secrets. She lived before, and loved Klaus! Impossible. Right? Sn2: New Orleans is not as it seems. Now alone, she feels like her world is crumbling. Klaus is of no help; Elijah is avoiding everyone; Bekah is God knows where. Will she help bring Hope home, or let grief consume her?
1. 1 Surprise!

Emma Harrigan's POV: "Carmen Rebekah Ash (df1beedfe7ea4c626d3932824ff417) is a superstar." That is the last sentence of my presentation on the infamous Carmen Ash. She's amazing – beautiful, talented, brave, and inspiring.  
"I am her biggest fan. I know everything about her. Did you know that her favorite color is black; she hates pink, except hot pink, but only when it is paired with black. She's 17 and her birthday is June 16th, in 10 days. Her favorite food is mac and cheese, but cheeseburger is a close second. Her two best friends are Luke Hemmings, and Tyler Lockwood– whoever that is. She met Luke when she was six whilst visiting Australia for the summer. Her favorite Starbucks drink is Iced Caramel Macchiato. She has two brothers – Ryland, who's 23 and Jayden who's 15 and super hot and one sister – Arden, Jayden's twin. Hmm what else… She's English and has moved from America to England and back numerous times, but was born in London. She loves-" "Emma, Emma! Calm down! I know you're excited that we are going to meet her on Sunday but you need to chillax." "I know, I know… But I'm SO excited!" Anna laughs. "Today's Friday! Two more days!" "You need to have gotten an A on this project to go, so don't get too excited. But you did an awesome job, so I'm sure you'll be fine." She reassures me. "Thanks!" "Girls! These students were quiet for you so you must return the favor, unless of course you would like an F!" Our teacher scolds, making us shut up immediately.

Carmen Ash's POV:

"Yea, mum, I know!" I respond to my mother's constant reminders to pick up my sister Arden from soccer practice. Normally, family of a superstar wouldn't be able to do most sporting events with the public, but I live in the part of LA where everybody's gotten used to seeing famous people on the street. Sure they ask for autographs, but unless they're tourists, they usually don't freak out. My tutor just left after another gruesome day of schooling. I am homeschooled because when I became famous, I was still in need of an education and couldn't go to my normal school.

I get dressed in /D8MHH1 and get into my car /Bj7vDD. I drive to Starbucks and order my usual - Iced Caramel Macchiato and a Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino for Arden.  
I then drive to the field and got out. Sadly, with any celebrity, even though the fans may not be crowding you constantly, the paparazzi make sure you are never left alone. It's been getting better though. Luckily, I have my bodyguard, Adrianna, with me, and she "escorts" them away.  
"Arden!" I yell as I walk over to the benches. She jogs over with all her stuff. "Hey, how was practice?" I ask before handing her the Frappuccino. She rants on about all of her accomplishments and finishes with, "You know all the boys are crushing over you, its so annoying!" which I laugh hysterically at. I love picking Arden up from practice, it gives us a chance to hang out and be normal for once, before we get back to the real world.  
"So… you and Ariana are going to do some planning of your birthday party tomorrow-." "No. You may not come to my party." "Please?" "Why would you want to come anyways? Oh wait, because of your enormous crush on one of my best friends!" I say, referring to Luke Hemmings, as we ride to Chipotle for dinner. After dinner we'll go to possible venues with Ariana and Frankie. You can help me pick. That is about the only thing other than the guest list that she is letting me plan!" Arden laughs. I pull out my notebook where the list of guests was. "So, I am letting the guests bring 2 friends each, here's the list so far." I hand her the notebook and she started reading. "You're inviting everybody from Vine?" "You mean Cameron, Nash and the lot?" She nods her head. "Of course. I met them at some awards show and we became friends, so I thought, why not?" "Heh, ok then," She says. "What about Taylor Swift?" She asks. I hand her a pen to write it. "And Selena. What about the Vamps." "The Vamps are touring right now, and not anywhere near Los Angeles…" "Did you run by Stewart the fact that you are having a party on your birthday? I don't think he'll allow it… You are supposed to be with them on your 18th birthday, for the ritual for-" "I don't want to hear another word, Arden! I told them that I was done with them! I don't want to be a part of that life! Besides, the ceremony can be held off for as long as a month." By the time we start arguing we finished dinner and are walking to the car. Once we get in, Arden yelled, "You're a werewolf, Carmen! You can't just ignore that! Whether or not you like it, that trait will be with you for the rest of your life! I know you don't like it, but you are about to be eighteen, you will have to marry the next Alpha, and there is nothing you can do about it!" "Well, maybe there is! I don't want to marry Daniel, but what if- what if I leave the pack, for good?" "You are destined to marry the Alpha, you can't just run away from that! You aren't like a normal wolf Carmen; you have a duty to your family and pack to do this! You cant just skip out of it like normal wolves can and become some loner wolf!" We debated for what seemed like hours even when we were pulling into the first venue "I don't want to, Arden! I want to be normal, you should too!" . We then notice Ariana coming to our car and opening the door so we immediately shut up. Nobody can know our secret. "Come on! You have a meet-up and concert in New York City tomorrow, yelling about whatever you two were conversing about isn't worth losing your voice!" Ariana scolds. We both laugh and mentally schedule the completion of the argument for later on. "So this is the first place; Frankie picked this one out." (first venue without wedding décor.) Arden's eyes widen as do mine "Wow!" We say in unison. Ariana nods in agreement. "Hey guys!" Frankie says as he walks over to us. We go to three other places and end up choosing the second venue. We go to my house and up to my room /fc8uof and sit down on my bed. I get out my suitcase and start packing while Ariana and Arden go to fetch some food. "I heard that you two were arguing about the marriage." My mother says as she enters the room. "I don't want to marry some alpha, I want to marry someone _I_ love. I know that we owe Daniel's family "everything" for taking us in as members of the pack when dad died, but I don't want to marry him!" "Fine, then don't." I give her a questioning look. "If you really don't want to, then don't. But if you are abandoning the pack, you're leaving them with no queen. Now _that_ would be a disgrace to our family! You would be disappointing your father." "I know. I'm sorry, mum; I just don't like the idea of an arranged marriage. I've met Danny, what, one time? He seemed fine, but he's a stranger!" "I understand, love." I let a tear drip down my cheek. "Aw, its ok, love. We'll talk about this on the plane, ok?" "You guys are coming?" "They have school off this week so I thought, why not?" "Thank you!" I hug her. She leaves and I finish packing. Arden, Frankie, and Ariana come in with cookies. We sit down on the rug and talked about going to NYC and what Ariana and I are going to perform. For the first time, Ari and I are touring together! "What if you guys sing 'Bang Bang' for the first song in NYC?" "But we don't have Nicki to rap!" I point out. "I'm sure she'd be happy to make a guest appearance!" "Then c'mon, let's get going to the basement to practice!" Frankie orders. My basement is equipped with a microphone and many instruments, along with everything needed to make the audio perfect and ample seating. We practice and laugh our asses off for hours until we look at the clock and see that it's close to midnight. "Oh, we better get home… Coco, Toulouse, Ophelia, Fawkes, Cinnamon and Sirius will need food and we both need some rest before tomorrow's show!" Ariana states, referring to her and I performing in NYC.

"Are you ready, girls?" The stage manager asks Ariana and I. We both nod and looked at each other. Ever since we left her house, she, and my whole family have been acting weird. They're hiding something... Even the crew is acting unnatural. "Hey, guys!" I yell as they cheer. "This first song will have a guest appearance from none other than Nicki Minaj!" They cheered even louder as I started singing. (A/N - Carmen is Jessie J in this song, but usually Carmen's voice is Bea Miller) When we ended Ariana exchanges looks with the band. The tune to my cover of "See You Again started playing, which was weird because I recorded this song with Ryland but he was in Afghanistan right now. (By Boyce Avenue and Bea Miller)  
I run up to Ariana and whisper, "What the bloody hell are you doing?!" She smirks. "Sing!" She ordered. "It's been a long day without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again." Ariana starts harmonizing in the background. What the hell is going on?! "We've come a long way, from where we began, oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again, when I see you again." I start tearing up because my brother's part is coming up and I don't know what to do. It is his part right now and there is silence until a man started singing:  
"Damn, who knew?  
All the planes we flew  
Good things we've been through  
That I'll be standing right here talking to you  
'Bout another path  
I know we loved to hit the road and laugh  
But something told me that it wouldn't last  
Had to switch up  
Look at things different, see the bigger picture  
Those were the days  
Hard work forever pays  
Now I see you in a better place (see you in a better place)"  
I turn around to see Ryland in his military uniform with Ariana next to him smiling. They stop the music and I give Ari my mic and run up and squeezed him as tight as I possibly could as the crowd cheers with all their might. He picks me up and twirls me around. After I wipe the tears away, I grab my microphone from Ariana and started singing with him.  
"How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got. Everything that I would do you we're standing there by my side. And now you're gonna be with me for the last ride." "It's been a long day, without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. We've come a long way, from where we began, oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again, when I see you again." I finish. "Oh oh ooh oh ooh ooh ooh." I cut him off by hugging him again and he picks me up off of the ground and kisses my head. Everyone bursts into cheer and I saidsay "I've missed you, so, so much." He tears up. "I've missed you too." A river of tears flow down my face rapidly.

At this point I'm glad that the makeup artist had been in on it and therefore used waterproof makeup.  
We finish up the concert and even played a few games and Ari and I answered questions.  
Ugh, great. I have a meet and greet. As much as I love my fans, I want to have some time with my brother. I go backstage and the audience clears out except for the people from the meet and greet. I come back out after I take out my earpiece and give the stage manager my mic.  
"Hey guys!" I excitedly greet about twenty people. "Oh. My. Gosh. Car-Carmen Ash… Oh my gosh." I smile at the girl who seems to be freaking out. "What's your name, love?" I ask. "Um... Emma. Emma Harrigan." "Well, Emma – would you and your friend like a picture?" She nods eagerly.  
When the trivia game is over, Ryland adds up all of the points and they come out to be: Group One – 22, Group Two – 27, Group 3 – 13, Group 4 – 11, and Group 5 – 27.

"And the winner is… It's a tie!" Ariana yells excitedly. "There is only one 1st place winner to come to the party. We have two more question for you." I say. "The tie-breaker - What is Ryland's middle name?"  
Each group murmurs amongst each other. Someone from Group 5 raises her hand. "Is it Finn?" Ryland shakes his head no and I see Emma smile widely at the other group's failure. "Group 3?" Emma's hand immediately shoots up. "Flynn." She states knowingly.  
"Yep! Ok. Now, whoever answers this question from group three first gets to come to my party as a VIP and bring two guests. 2nd-5th place is a $200 gift card to Forever 21, Abercrombie, Express, or Hollister. Ok, the question is – What did I do for Jayden's birthday party last year?" Emma and her friend think about it and whisper into each other's ears trying to figure out the answer.  
Somebody shouted out, "You went to Disney Land, right?" "Nope." "You went to New York City!" Somebody else shouts out. I shake my head again.  
"You went to Hawaii." Emma says courageously. "Yes, we did!" I exclaim. Somebody from the stage crew comes out and gives Emma three badges, one for her and two for two other people. "Ok, so for the four of you in Group 3 – Which gift cards do you want?" Emma's friend immediately shouts out Abercrombie while a young boy says Hollister, a teen girl says Forever 21 and another says Express.  
We finish up with everything and get into the tour bus. "I can't believe you're back, Ryland." "Somehow, neither can I." "I missed you so much!" I say as I hug him.


	2. 2 I Love You, Goodbye

/NTNp1IbNLzA

It was a day away from my birthday and we had almost finished the first part of the tour. We were heading back to LA that night after we picked up Emma and her two guests. We'd just finished up a concert in New Jersey and were signing autographs when I saw him: Stewart.

"There you go, love." I gave the young girl a newly signed CD. We were in front of the building in which I had my concert. Ryland and Ariana had gone back to LA.

I walked towards the woods and Adrianna ran up to me and said, "You aren't going into those woods alone, are you?"

"I'm fine, Adrianna, really. I just want some fresh air, that's all." She hesitantly nodded and walked away.

"Wow, I applaud your lying skills." Stewart said.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded to know.

"Just popping in, wondering when you are going to come back so we can prepare for the wedding ceremony."

"Go away, Stewart,"

"When you're done with your little "party", you are going to come back. This marriage is not optional, Carmen. Your pack needs you. Daniel needs you." And with that, he was gone.

It was the night of the party and everybody was there. We partied or hearts out.

I walked over to Emma and her friend and asked, "How do you like the party?"

"It's amazing! I just met Nash Grier, and Cameron Dallas! Eek!" I laughed.

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun! Ariana is about to perform, you should go on stage with her!" I exclaimed.

"I can't sing, but Anna can!" Emma pushed her friend forward. With some convincing, Anna went on stage, and sung amazingly!

At about three in the morning the party finally ended and we all headed back to our separate homes, but Emma, Anna, and the other guest, Abby, came back to my house along with Ariana. We all hung around, laughed, talked, and eventually fell asleep, all crowded on the living room floor and couch.

The next morning we all got up and it was time for Emma and her friends to leave. We said our goodbyes and they left.

Ryland was acting really weird that afternoon, and when it was finally time for him to say why, I was devastated.

I looked at Ryland. "I'm sorry, Carmen. I don't want to leave, I really don't, but I have to go; it's my job to protect this country and I am not giving up. There are still wars to fight. I promise you, in exactly three years, I will come back. I love you, sis." He said as he kissed my forehead.

"I love you too." I sniffed. We then heard the door being knocked down. We were in the kitchen, and Ryland and I rushed to the living room, where the front door was. I looked at Francis, the most powerful of the vampires in the city, aka the self-proclaimed leader.

"Hello, princess." He said, referring to me, in a rough voice. I swallowed nervously.

"Fuck off, Francis. This is wolf territory. It's against the rules for you to be anywhere near wolf property unless invited. I know that you can't get in the house." Francis smirked.

"Oh, I know what the rules state, and I know my _limitations_. But I truly don't care about some stupid rules that your pack's ancestors and I set in place for this city four hundred years ago. The rules I do care about are the ones stating that, with this many people in your family, you can start another pack. I can not have another pack to fight, now can I?" He grinned ear to ear.

"We don't want any trouble, Francis," I said. I was about to step forward but Ryland firmly held me back.

"Well, you may not, but I do." Francis retorted, his grin still intact.

I saw something in his pocket and said to my siblings harshly, "Run!" They didn't seem to get the message but, with Jayden behind me, I grabbed his sleeve and yanked him up the stairs, expecting my other siblings to follow. Then I heard it. An explosion.

"I do prefer the use of my teeth for killing people, but these modern methods will have to suffice." He said before flashing away. I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran back downstairs and took in the horrid scene.

"Call the police," I ordered Jayden, trying not to break down.

"But mum said never to-"

"Oh, just blood do it, Jayden!" I scolded.

Three Days Later

Song for this part: Be Still – The Fray

I walked into the funeral after everyone was seated, Jayden by my side. I saw Tyler, Richard, and Carol Lockwood, who were some friends of my mum's from her high school years and sat next to them. Tyler was at my left and Jayden at my right. I looked around and saw who was there: My bitchy aunt, a lot of family (supposedly) "friends" (who hated my family until I became famous), tons of military men, and a bunch of distant friends who've I've only seen once or twice in my life. Luckily, I wasn't an emotional wreck. At least, I wouldn't be one until it was time for speeches. I sniffed something weird with my wolf senses. I knew that Jay didn't smell it because he wasn't a wolf yet. I told Jayden, "I'll be right back," and got up and slowly went to the lobby, making sure I made eye contact with every person on my way, trying to figure out who I was smelling. The odor was strong, which meant that there was more than one, or there was one powerful wolf… or did I smell vampire… Last row. There he is: an alpha of another pack. I looked him right in the eye and sat down next to him.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" I demanded, not having the patience for some funny business. When I am upset, I tend to hide it by being a bit of a bitch…

"Now don't be snarky with me, I'm paying my respects to the people who died. And for that loss, I am extremely sorry, _Carmen_." He stretched out my name as if he was annoyed by it. I looked at him weirdly.

"Sorry, but I'm not used to referring to you by the name that your mother gave you."

"What's that supposed to mean-" I paused, realizing my mistake.

"So every wolf in the whole damn country knows my birth name.

"I'm sorry if that offended you, Mariana, but pretty much yes… You're famous around the alpha's of this state at least, and part of the country." I went back to my seat, partly annoyed for no goddamn reason… Ugh! What is with these bloody hormones! I hadn't realized while I was thinking to myself that the priest had asked us to stand so Ty nudged me and ripped me out of my thoughts.

He whispered, "Are you ok?" I gave him a questioning look.

"You were crying." I immediately lifted my hand and felt my tear stained cheeks. I must've been thinking more deeply than I thought. As the service went on I thought more and more: My dad has been dead. My mum is dead. My sister is dead. My brother is dead. And yet I'm still this star that needs to look perfect for the camera. I realized that I was crying again. I hate crying! It is a sign of weakness and I am not nor ever will be _weak_.

"Does anybody have anything that they would like to say about Ryland, Arden-" Jayden winced as her name was called, "Or Miss. Abigail Ash?" Three military men came up, one after the other. Then my aunt came up, making some fake speech about how she'll miss her sister-in-law and her kids. It was then my turn. I did speeches for Arden and my mum so it was time for the one for Ryland.

"Ryland was not only my brother, but he was my best friend. He would stop at nothing to protect our country. Death, it came too soon for him. Some say death that comes too early is a penalty of doing something wrong in life. The problem is," My voice cracked, "since we were children, Ryland had helped everybody around him to do whatever they asked. He always liked to mow the entire street as a surprise for our neighbors, volunteer wherever possible, and countless other selfless acts. His heart was pure. He didn't do anything that deserved this so called punishment. Seven years ago my family went through a very hard time, we lost my father. Ryland, he..." I paused, closed my eyes, and let a tear drop, "he comforted us. When we all were at our worst, he stayed strong, for us. He became our father figure. He taught me how to skateboard, how to play football," I glanced at Tyler when I said football, remembering that day like it was yesterday when Ryland and Tyler started teaching me while Tyler was visiting us I continued, "and so many more things. Ryland Ash was, and still is, my role model and my inspiration. I love you, Ryland." I left the podium and sat back down. I decided to get some fresh air

"I'll be right back," I told Tyler and Jay. I walked out the doors of the funeral home. Luke followed me out and sat down on the steps leading outside. He looked at me for a solid minute then broke the peaceful silence by saying,

"You know, I'm gonna kill that asshole." I smiled the best smile I could manage. "That was a really nice speech, Carmen." "Thanks…" I responded.

"I knew that Francis would be angered by Ryland's return, but I didn't think that he would kill him," I said emotionlessly.

"I'm so sorry, Car," Luke said, trying to comfort me. I leaned in for a hug. I buried my face into his jacket and cried. I cried for at least seven minutes before I wiped the tears and stated blankly, "We should uh, get back inside" before speed walking in.

Usually people are supposed to have a "party" type thing afterwards, but I really wasn't in the mood to cook for a bunch of strangers right after commemorating almost my entire family's death. I invited Luke and his gang over but that was it, besides inviting the Lockwood's for dinner night. When we got in, I saw somebody's back towards us who was at our doorway. I stayed parked in the driveway and signaled to Jay and Luke to be quiet by putting my finger over my lips and silently shushing them. I pointed to the woman and mouthed _vampire_ then wiggled my ears, signaling that she could hear us.

The other boys parked down the street a little ways and as Ashton saw the woman he sped up to him with supernatural speed and pinned the vampire up against my front door. We all got out of the car and came running over. "Who the hell are you?" I demanded as I caught sight of her. "Name's Ashley. I heard what happened to your brother, and I'm sorry, but… I think I have a way to kill Francis," She stated. "Speak," Calum said. "I can rip your head off in the blink of an eye, kid, so I would shut up." Ashley, who was giving him a death glare, all of a sudden pinned Calum up on the wall. Jayden had taken her keys to my house out of her purse and was opening the door, obviously not phased by anything that was going on. "Who owns this house?" Ashley asked, putting Calum down. "Carmen does," Jayden said. He knew that I was in no emotional position to even attempt to speak

Ashley, the boys, Jayden and I were sitting on the couch talking about how we would kill Francis. Jayden and Luke were hesitant to do so Ashley, Calum, Ashton and Michael were doing most of the talking while the rest of us watched TV.

A gossip channel was on and the woman said, "So, the topic of the past few days has been about, you guessed it, Luke and Carmen!"

At this I groaned, "Great, more rumors."

"So, what do you think, are they dating? We spotted Luke Hemmings, Carmen Ash and Ariana Grande walking around the streets of LA together, but see Ariana breaks off halfway through. Luke and Carmen hung out for two more hours! Are they dating, or just friends?"

At that I changed the channel to some other news channel, "Virginia is blowing up the charts of death rates this year, I wonder what is going on? Mostly animal attacks, homicides, and suicides including a huge car crash on the highway just yesterday resulting in more deaths than scientists say should've occurred along with more blood. A total of six people were killed yesterday afternoon in a brutal crash and small explosion." Ashley started laughing hysterically for some reason.

"What's so funny about six people dying?" Michael asked.

"Ah... Nothing. I lived where those attacks are coming from, it's just funny that they are on the news," Ashley said quietly. We were all confused but decided not to ask any more. We decided we would meet again the next day because guests were coming over tonight. "K guys, everybody out!" Luke said. We let Ashley stay with us because now we have many guest rooms… No. No more moping around and feeling bad. Even though it was just recently, I- I'm over it, I guess… Who am I kidding? I want to curl up in a ball and cry for hours, but I can't, well, I won't. Luke and Ashley were the only guests left when the doorbell rung. Luke went to get that as Jayden helped me serve the lasagna I had made. Serving for a small amount of people, I had to admit, was pretty fun. We all sat around the table and talked. Carol started crying again and I felt bad. They were staying here tonight so they didn't have to get an expensive LA hotel. We finished up dinner and I showed them to their rooms. Carol and Richard got my mum's room and Tyler got Ryland's room.

A few days had passed and we had come up with the plan and were going to do it tonight. We took my mum's car since mine only fit four people at most. My pack decided they wanted to help so they were going to meet us there. On the way over, Ashley asked, "Ok, so we all remember the plan? Calum, you called Francis over to the park already, right?" Calum nodded. "Now remember that the only way to kill a vampire is by their head or heart. Carmen, we have your family's gun with us so you are going to go out on the field and try to distract him with some of your pack while Ashton shoots him from behind, ok? And if he brings along friends, Calum, the rest of your pack, and I will use similar tactics." We all nodded in agreement. "This guy has killed so many people in a matter of 500 years, he needs to die." "Agreed," We all respond in unison.


	3. 3 New Town, New Life

We all arrive at the field and sense that Francis's vampire men are here. I don't see him, but still say to Francis, "Hey! You killed my family, so why don't you just finish the bloody job!" "Gladly," he says evilly as he pins me up against a dumpster. Ashley must've not been ready because she wasn't shooting. "You know, you'd be doing me a favor, bastard. Ryland is gone, Arden is gone, and my mum's gone... Everybody that I care about... Gone." I say, only loud enough for him to hear. "So please, I am begging you: Kill me." "No." "What?" I asked, confused. "That would be to easy. Instead, I will just rip you apart, limb-by-limb, slowly, and painfully. And-" before he could keep talking, I did something I never thought I would need to do, I kneed a full grown man where the sun don't shine. While he was hunched over, weakly, I took my fist, shoved it in his chest, and ripped out his heart. Wow. I didn't think it would be that easy. I guess nobody thought of that before... I turned around to see my friends staring at me while my pack fights the vampires off. We all join in the fighting. It seems that more and more keep coming. Then we see some sort of gas being sprayed in our direction from an unknown location. Everybody starts fainting and eventually, so do I.

I wake up in my bed, unharmed... What the bloody hell is going on? I sprinted downstairs and into the living room to see Luke, Calum, Michael, Ashton, Jayden, and five or so members of my pack. Then I look over to the dining room and see a vampire pouring himself some bourbon. I had a tear stained face from crying the night before, so I wiped the tears away. The vampire turned around, pretending that he hadn't already noticed me and said, "Look who's awake!" "Devon I swear to god if you hurt her-" Luke threatened before being cut off, "I'm not scared of you, Luke. Besides, I'm just here to have a chat with her," he said, like I wasn't in the room. Before I could do or say anything, he grabbed me and pulled me into my mum's bedroom, which was upstairs. "Who the bloody hell are you?" I demanded. "Let me formally introduce myself," he said before locking the door. "My name is Devon McRae. I'm a vampire, obviously. I have your wolves, and they will be dead soon enough, along with Ashley." We heard banging on the door, which Devon just smirked at. I wanted to react. I wanted to scream. I wanted to ball my eyes out. But I didn't, because I couldn't. "Why are my wolves in your captivity?" I asked. "I need something from them. But don't worry; they would've died anyways from all of those vampires that you were fighting. I guess you could say that I interfered with the prophecy." He told me while smirking evilly.

Flashback  
Come here, child," My Mima calmly ordered me in her forever aging soft grandmother's voice as she patted her lap. "I want to tell you a story that was told to your mother by her Mima and was told to me by my Mima and so on," she paused, looking out the window.  
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful king and queen who ruled over a prosperous kingdom. That was our kingdom, baby. We flourished for hundreds of years until another kingdom came, proclaiming that they wanted our magnificent city as their own. We fought and fought until our king, who was your great-great-great grandpapi, requested a truce. The evil king, known as Francis agreed willingly. We set up borders, limitations, and all of it. We had lived in peace for hundreds of years. But eventually we realized that the wonderful peace... Wasn't real. We still lived in their fake peace until today. We asked a witch what she believed would happen and she foretold a prophecy stating that one day, in hundreds of years, we would have a savior who would realize that in fighting this dark kingdom, we turned dark ourselves. She would make sure that the pure hearted were saved. She said that this savior would be a beautiful girl named Mariana. Your mother thinks that changing your name to Carmen will change the prophecy's outcome. She is wrong, but she won't listen. What I'm trying to say, is that beautiful girl... Is you." I looked up at my Mima with large and frightened eyes.  
Flashback ends

I opened my eyes, realizing that Devon's fingers were on my temples, and he was the one showing me that treasured memory. "I remember that day..." I said, wholeheartedly. Then I realized something, "it was the day before my Mima died," I informed him emotionlessly. "That wasn't the point of showing you that." "Are you _trying_ to be the good guy? Well, you aren't. You killed my ENTIRE pack. Even some of the good ones! You are far from the good guy." I finished before storming out. I ran up to Luke and sat down next to him and cried. He hugged me and gave Ashton a look. Ashton pinned Devon up against a wall and demanded, "What the hell did you tell her?" "Only what she needed to know." He grinned ear to ear and then vanished. I stiffened up some and sat up to tell them that my pack was dead along with Ashley. Before they could all respond I said, "I need to go do something." I waved Jayden to come with me and we got in the car, laving everybody baffled. "Sister, where are we going?" He asked, partially scared. "I can't take this anymore. Too many people have died," I said, while getting onto the highway. " _What_ is _this_?" He demanded. I didn't respond and a few minutes later, I got off of the highway. A few more minutes pass and we are pulling into a driveway. We get out and I ring the doorbell. A woman named Lucy, who just happens to be a very powerful witch, answers the door. "I've been expecting you both." She gives Jayden and I a warm smile as she pulls open the door for us. "I have a question to ask you, Lucy." "Anything, my dear." "Do you know a spell that will make people forget about me?" I ask, which earns me a look from Jayden. "I am taking Jayden, and we are getting the hell out of Los Angeles, but first, I need people to forget about me as a celebrity." "That will require an immense amount of power, my dear. But I will do it," She responds, smiling. I know she is a suck up, but sometimes suck ups are helpful. "Would you like me to start the spell now?" I nodded. She went to fetch her grimoire. "Are you sure about this, Car?" "Yes. I don't want any humans to know who I am. The military men can know us as Ryland's siblings, and Arden's friends can know us as Arden's siblings. That's it. I loved being famous, but you come first, before all of it." Jayden smiled. I knew that he never liked being famous.  
A week had passed and the spell had worked. I had no fans, no social media accounts; it was like everything was wiped from the systems. I walked down the streets and nobody knew me. No celebrity besides Luke knew who I was. Luke understood and didn't put up a fight with my decision, luckily.  
I woke up, smiling in a hotel. Everything was being shipped to a home that we already chose in my mum's childhood home of Mystic Falls, Virginia.  
We were going to go to my dad's childhood home back in England, but the Lockwood's demanded that we stay with them until we are ready to buy a house in Mystic Falls, mother's childhood home.  
Set on Season 1 Episode 1 – Pilot  
I sat up on my bed, took my pillow, and threw it across the room on the other bed, aiming for Jayden's head. "Let me sleeeeep!" He yelled at me. "I'm going downstairs to the small food place. I'll get a yogurt for me, what do you want?" I asked. "A smoothie,"  
I came back upstairs with breakfast and we both ate in peaceful silence until Jayden said, "You know, now that I think about it… We are alone in this, now. No fans, a few friends, and a selfish aunt that lives in England. The Lockwood's will be there with us, but are you sure you want to move there?" I nodded. "The Lockwood's will treat us kindly. They welcomed us with open arms to come to Mystic Falls and stay with them when we were at the funeral." I went over to him and sat next to him on the couch. "Are you going to be ok, Jayden?" I knew when my brother was upset, and right now, he was. "I miss them, you know. Every morning I wake up, expecting Arden to come in and tackle me to get up, like she always used to do; I expect Mum to make her infamous blueberry pancakes; I expect Ryland to play toss with me across the living room couch while we are watching TV. But deep down, I know that she will never make them again, and Ryland and I will never laugh our asses off watching Tom and Jerry, and I will never tickle Arden to death for waking me up." He let a tear drip down his cheek. I wrapped him in a tight hug and kissed his forehead. "You still have me, kid. I miss them too, but we'll make new traditions, alright?" He nodded and smiled. "I love you sis," He said. "I love you too."

A day had passed and Jayden was signed up at Mystic Falls High. We were still staying at the hotel, but while Jayden was in school, I was moving our stuff into the Lockwood's, and putting the rest into storage places. When I was done, I drove my car to Mystic Falls High and went to the secretary. I gave her all of my papers and she asked, "Did I see you this morning, registering your younger brother?" I nodded and flashed a smile. "So you don't have a legal guardian?" She inquired. "No, I'm 18 years old though. My parents um… passed away about a month ago." I admitted. "Oh, I'm very sorry for your loss." I nodded, not wanting to say more. It was the end of the day and we were heading out when I saw Tyler kissing some girl. "Sorry love, but if you would stop eating me mate's face off, I'd like to talk to him," I told the girl harshly. She and Tyler stopped and Tyler looked at me for a long while before embracing me in a hug. The girl just glared at me before Tyler said, "Vicki, this is my friend Carmen," "Ey," I say while holding out my hand. She reluctantly shook it. I smiled to myself. I know that I was rude, and I adjusted my behavior for my fans, but now that I don't have any fans, I am free to say whatever I fuccing please.

The next day I went to school with Jayden only, since it was my last day in the hotel and realized I had no idea where anything is. I went looking for Ty and found him talking to some really hot guy, in between kissing Vicki. He was insulting him and when the other boy tried to fight back. I decided to make my presence known before Ty kicks his ass. I ran over to him as soon as things started getting heated and I said, "Ey, Ty, calm down mate. He's just standing up for 'emself" I pulled on his shoulder gently and he backed away and said, "I can still kick his ass..." He walked away but before leaving, he said, "Come over after school with Jay. I missed you Car." He kissed my cheek in a best friend kind of way, which apparently made Vicki mad because she stormed after him. "Thanks for that, I think," the unknown boy, said. "You're welcome, I think," I responded sarcastically. "Carmen Ash," I introduced myself. "Jeremy Gilbert." "Jeremy Gilbert… I'll call you Germy." He laughed and I continued with, "So you're the little brother? I know your sister. Last time I visited, we became good friends." "Well, this is the stoner pit. I hang around here usually during school." I nodded. "So, most druggies have a reason for taking drugs, I know from experience, so what's yours?" I asked, then realizing that I had already skipped two periods. "Well, my parents died when their car dunked into the lake a few months ago, and ever since, I've been really depressed I guess. All I have left is Elena." I suddenly felt bad for the kid. "You said that you knew from experience, so what's your experience?" I didn't want to talk about it, but I did anyways. "Well, everybody besides my little brother, Jayden, and my late father passed away when somebody tried to assassinate my older brother, Ryland, probably from being associated with the military." Lie. "I saw the bomb in a man's hand, and yelled at my family to run, while grabbing the person closest to me, which was Jayden, and yanking him up the stairs. I saved Jayden but let the others perish… That's my story." I realized that I was crying and Jeremy hugged me. "When was this?" He asked. "Three weeks ago," I told him. "Jayden and I are living with family friends, the Lockwood's, for now until I decide that I'm ready to take care of my brother on my own." "I'm so sorry. Did the assassin go to jail?" "Um, yea…" I lied. He gave me a look, knowing that I was lying. "No. He didn't go to jail. Somebody pretty messed up wanted to avenge my family, so they killed him." That somebody was I. "Oh. I'm sorry about all of that. Especially since it just happened a small while ago. You still have Jayden, though, so you'll be ok," He reassures me. "Thanks Germy," I respond with a laugh. "Cigarette?" He hands me a smoke and I graciously accept. "Not many people have been this compassionate with me, you know. Mostly either my story scares 'em off, or my _intimidating_ personality." He laughs and says, "I love your personality, and anybody that doesn't can piss off." I flash a smile and we hear the lunch bell ring.  
After lunch I go to class and sit down in the very back of the room. I look up and see a man with dark brown hair and brown eyes and a girl with brown hair, sitting in front of me. She looks at the man and I see her face. Elena! " 'Ey, Gilbert." She turns around and seeing my face she immediately smiles ear to ear. "Car!" She whisper-yells to me. " 'Lena!" I whisper-yell back with mock enthusiasm, which makes us both giggle. I go to the Grill and sit down next to Tyler and Matt. I know most of Tyler's friends because one of the times I visited he threw a party and I got to know all of them. Vicki comes up to Ty and starts flirting while I make barf noises at. Vicki and Ty both glare at me as I throw my hands up claiming innocence. We all laugh and I order bourbon. I feel somebody's eyes on me so I turn around to see a man with black hair, pale skin, and icy blue eyes that seem to stare into my soul… I get up and walk over him and sit down at his table. "Can I help you, darling?" I ask in my strong British accent. "You're new here, right?" I nod and he says, "Hi. I'm Damon Salvatore." He holds out his hand and I shake it graciously. "Wow, the first person in this blasted town with manners. I'm Carmen Ash." He smiles at me, which resulted in my blushing like a madman me blush. "Have I met you before, Carmen?" He inquires. I shake my head no. "Oh. You know what, just forget I asked." I nodded and we exchanged phone numbers before I left for the bonfire that Jay was begging me to go to. I walked up to the bonfire and saw Elena's boyfriend, Stefan. I walk next to him and see him trying to listen to something with vamp hearing. "Who 're you eavesdropping on, mate?" "Who the hell are you?" He demands. "Carmen Ash, but don't worry, about me knowing your secret, I'm a wolf." He nods and asks, "Do I know you from somewhere?" I shake my head no and he nods. "Oh, ok. Well I'm Stefan Salvatore." "Damon's brother? "Sadly… listen I've got to go but I'll talk to you later." He tells me before giving me his phone number. I smiled thankfully and went to find Jeremy. I saw him drinking a beer and I sat down next to him. "Hey Germy." I said. He looked at me and said, "Hey." "So, what's your thing with Vicki Donavan." He told me everything that was going on and I was shocked. "You know, if she can't instantly see what an amazing germ you are, then she can suck it, because she doesn't deserve you, Jer." "Thanks, but I love her, Car. And, _sometimes_ , she loves me."  
I ran up to the scene of Vicki's unconscious body splattered in blood. I knew it was a vampire attack, and I knew who the offender was. I ringed Damon and he said, "Hello, Carmen. What can I do for you to-" "Did you bit Vicki, Damon?" I asked, annoyed. I saw Stefan listening to the conversation. "Hmm, Vicki, Vicki, Vicki – doesn't ring a bell." "Seriously, Damon!" For some reason I felt as though I knew him well enough to be like this, even though we'd known each other for half a day. "Yes, ok? I bit her," "But why?" "To torture my baby brother, of course." I turned around and saw Stefan speed away, probably to confront Damon. This was going to be messy… I walked over to see Elena trying to comfort Jeremy. She doesn't even understand what he's going through, how can she help?

I was walking to the grill after another failed attempt to convince Damon to not do what he told me that he was planning to do with Vicki, which was turn her into a vampire. I was becoming part of the whole "gang" and was really feeling at home, which was really great. The week before, Elena, Bon, Care and I were at the Grill and a cute drunk guy approached me and when he tried to ask me out, Care and Elena freaked and told him to go to hell. I think that's good? I mean they were acting like I was one of the mates, even though I had only known them for about a month. It was great. We were acting like the best of mates and I loved it! I was going to meet them all, and pick up Jay from his football practice on the way. I got a ring from Tyler and when I picked it up, he said, "Hey, I'm gonna bring Jay to the Grill to meet you, so no need to pick him up." "Oh, well thanks mate! Can I chat with 'em for a sec?" Tyler handed the phone to Jay and Jay asked worriedly, "Everything alright, sis?" "Yea, just wanted to see if you were alright." "You've asked me this every day for the past month, Carmie. The answer is still the same. I'm adjusting. I don't think the answer will ever be what you would like it to be, but it is getting better." "I love you, Jay." "Love you too, sis."

I got up and stretched as I heard Carol call, "Alright, time to wake up!" I groan and get dressed in  /style_9038/set?id=173719949  
before heading downstairs. "Thank you so much, again for letting us stay here until we've settled in." I gave Richard and Carol a warm smile and Carol said, "You are welcome anytime you would like, honey." I thanked her again before Tyler, Jayden and I headed out the door. Ty and I were hanging at the baseball field since Jay went off with some friends. Tyler was talking to some girls while I was chatting with one of my new friends, Lily. I heard Germy come over and say, "Hey Tyler, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was just wondering how Vicki's doing, since you guys are so close. Is she ok?" Ugh he's gonna get beat up if he keeps this going… "She's fine, now get out of here." "How bad is she? Do they know what attacked her? Is she going to make a full recovery?" I saw Ty starting to get really annoyed. "Was she happy to see you? What room number was she in?" "I'm going to kick your ass," Tyler declared threateningly. "Yeah, you keep saying that, but when are you actually going to do it, huh? Cause I vote for right here and right now." He pushed him into the fence. "Walk away Gilbert, this is your final warning." "No this is your final warning, dick. I'm sick of watching you play Vicki. If you hurt her one more time, I swear to god, I will kill you," Jeremy threats. Ty looks about ready to punch Jeremy in the face but I run up to them and say, "Hey, hey. Not here, not now." I warn. Jeremy scoffs and says, "Are you siding with him?" "I'm not siding with _anybody_ , I just won't let you two kill each other," I say before walking off.  
I decided to go to the hospital to check on Vicki and I smelt a vampire had been here, Stefan. I ran into the blood donation room at wolf speed to see Stefan staring at the blood. I firmly grabbed his arm and locked it with mine before speed walking him out, much to his discontent and confusion. We jumped out of the window and disappeared.  
There's been a lot of drama over the past few weeks. Vicki's incident and the tomb vampires have made my life pretty hectic, along with trying, and failing to keep Damon away from Vicki. I've gotten much closer to everybody, and they are treating me like one of their best mates, which makes me happy. (A/N I'm skipping to 1x08) Elena found out about Stefan, and broke up with him. Elena made Jeremy forget about Vicki's death, which I am still mad at her for. She had NO right to do that. Today is Stefan's birthday, so I am inviting one of his friends that he told me about, Lexi, to come to Mystic Falls. A friend had traced her down for me. Even though I'm not a billion year old vampire like they all are, I am a werewolf. I know that connections are everything when it comes to the supernatural world. It's kind of like being a celebrity; You need to know certain people to get better jobs. Having connections is always important. Lexi and I are planning Stefan's birthday at the Salvatore house. "You know what we should do **hiccup**?" I ask Lexi. "What's that?" She asked, handing me another shot. "We should throw a party, maybe it will help him cool down." "He doesn't have the best history at parties, Car. Buuuut, if we were there, than maybe he would be ok…" We both smile. Damon flashes in and said, "Yea, we should." I scoff, " _We?"_ "You know what, how about I have Caroline plan it, she does know everybody," "Umm…" I say. "Then it's settled! I'll go tell Caroline." He leaves and Lexi asks, "Ok, what is his deal?" I shrug. We end up dancing like the crazy drunk girls we were for a few hours until I hear my phone go off. I go to answer it. "Whaaaaatt?" I ask Mason Lockwood. _"How's your transformation been going?"_ "Good, I guess. The Lockwood Cellar has been helpful, its been working well with restraining me," I respond. "Good, and I wanted to let you know that I am gonna come down in a week or two, for a family visit." "Alrighty," I slur." Are you drunk?" He asks. "Mayyybbeeeee…" "You're too young!' He scolds. I laugh and say, "Bye Mas, love you." "Love you too." I hang up and decide to call Jeremy and ask how the investigation is going. He tells me it was fine and that he told Sherriff everything he knew.

Lexi, and I enter the grill together and see Damon come up to Lexi so I feel as though I should leave them alone to bitch to each other about all things boring while I go get a drink.

Later on, I see Lexi interrogating Damon, but don't go over, I'm much more interested as to why so many police officers are here, along with the Sheriff. I walk out of the front door to be stopped by a cop. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I cant let you leave the vicinity." I turn around and see Lexi being shot with vervain then carried out the door, followed by a panicked Stefan. I run after them and am behind Stefan as I see Lexi get stabbed. Stefan quickly covers Elena's mouth, knowing she would want to scream, as I stand there, in shock, tears threatening to fall. Stefan looks at me and engulfs me in a hug and lets some of his own tears drop.  
(A/N Skipping to 1x22)  
I follow Carol as she orders everybody around to get into his or her correct positions. I am wearing  /carmen/set?id=174216110, as I am not taking part in the celebrations. Well, besides the float for the football team.  
An hour or so later, I was in the grill with Damon, listening to Jeremy and Elena's conversation. "You can go to hell, Elena," He tells her bluntly. Damon and Stefan go to confront him as I sit down next to Elena. "You all right?" l ask her. "I'm fine…" "He doesn't mean any of that stuff. He's just being an ass because he can't make himself understand why you did what you did. He'll get over his hissy fit soon enough." "I know, I just hate to see him look at me and show nothing but anger in his eyes, like he hates me." "Jeremy does _not_ hate you. He loves you, Elena, even when he's mad, even when he doesn't think he does, he still does." "Thanks, Carmen." "Keep your chin up, love, it'll get better, I promise." She smiles at me and stands up to hug me.  
Tyler, Care, Matt and I are in the Grill. I'm sitting with Caroline while she's trying to convince Matt to forgive Tyler when Richard walks in. I stand up next to Tyler as Richard says, "What are you two doing here, I told you to go home." "We decided not to." "If I tell you to do something, you do it." Richard says angrily while tugging on Tyler's arm. "Get off him!" I tell Richard. I see him contemplating whether to stand up or back down and as soon as he chooses to stand up and he grabs my arm roughly Caroline dashes over and asks "Mayor, is everything ok?" "Please, I need you two to go home. Now. Take your friends with you." "Why, what's going on?" I demand. "I can't explain. All of you need to get home, now. Please." Tyler looks at me and I say, "Yea, ok." "Here," Richard hands Tyler the keys. "Take my car. It's out back. Come on. Carmen, Caroline, Matt, go with him."  
"What the bloody hell?" I ask, feeling a massive pain in my head. "What is it?" "What's the matter?" Tyler starts feeling it too and I scream in pure agony, "Ah! That noise! Ah! Stop it! Ah! Make! It! Stop!" Tyler starts screaming in pain as well, and the car swerves and eventually crashes into a metal fence.  
The ambulance arrives and when they tell me that they need to look in my eyes to see if I have a concussion, I insist that I'm fine. "No, miss, I'm sorry, it's protocol." He tries to but I grab his hand and push it away firmly. "I said no!" I say and walk away, towards an unconscious Caroline.  
We were sitting in the hospital, waiting to hear if Caroline was ok. The Sherriff walked in and said, "There was some internal bleeding. We're taking her into surgery." "What else did they say? Is she going to be ok?" "They're going to do everything they can." Matt nodded and sat back down. "Have either of you talked to Tyler's mom?" "I left her a message telling her we were here," Tyler responded. "One of you needs to call her." "What is it?" Tyler asked, suddenly intrigued, and frightened. "It's your dad," Liz said, her voice breaking.  
Turns out, Richard is dead. No offense to him, but I can't say anybody would particularly miss him. He was a dick. No doubt. I know it was rude, but it was also true.

Season 2 Episode 1

 _I am in a big, beautiful, grassy field. I am running as fast as I can. What am I running from? I don't know. Finally, I cannot keep at it so I pause for a rest by the tree. "You know, if the rabbit stops to rest, the turtle wins the race…" Kol whispers in my ear. "How is it fair that you, the turtle, have superhuman speed?" I demanded. He laughed at this. "Come on, it is supper time. We may finish the race afterwards, even though we both know that I will win," Kol tells me with a cocky smile. I pursed my lips slightly then smiled cheekily. We arrived at home quickly as Kol had sped us there in the blink of an eye, which I still found unbelievable. "Look who's home, finally," Nik scolded. "We were only having a bit of fun, brother. Don't get jealous." I smiled and kissed Nik on the cheek. He decided it wasn't enough so he pulled me in for a kiss on the lips. "I hope Kol did not treat you too poorly." "He was wonderful, Nik." I sent a smirk towards my best friend, which made him laugh. "Oh, living with you three should be a bloody job, you know!" Rebekah yelled, while cleaning up Kol's mess. We all laugh and spend the rest of the night playing in the field, while Nik paints, but he eventually joins our bit of fun after my begging. I may have bribed him for a kiss, but, hey, at least he came out!_


	4. 4 To Kill Or Be Killed

Season 2 Episode 1

 _I am in a big, beautiful, grassy field. I am running as fast as I can. What am I running from? I don't know. Finally, I cannot keep at it so I pause for a rest by the tree. "You know, if the rabbit stops to rest, the turtle wins the race…" Kol whispers in my ear. "How is it fair that you, the turtle, have superhuman speed?" I demand. He laughs at this. "Come on, it is supper time. We may finish the race afterwards, even though we both know that I will win," Kol tells me with a cocky smile. I purse my lips slightly then smile cheekily. We arrive at home quickly as Kol had sped us there in the blink of an eye, which I still find unbelievable. "Look who's home, finally," Nik scolds. "We were only having a bit of fun, brother. Don't get jealous." I smile and kiss Nik on the cheek. He decides it wasn't enough so he pulls me in for a kiss on the lips. "I hope Kol did not treat you too poorly." "He was wonderful, Nik." I send a smirk towards my best friend, which makes him laugh. "Oh, living with you three should be a bloody job, you know!" Rebekah yells, while cleaning up Kol's mess. We all laugh and spend the rest of the night playing in the field, while Nik paints, but he eventually joins our bit of fun after my begging. I may have bribed him for a kiss, but, hey, at least he came out!_  
I shoot up on my bed, breathing heavily and sweating. After I shower up and put on  /cgi/set?id=173833024, I get a ring from Damon and he quickly tells me to watch my back for an Elena look alike named Katherine. I smile. She's back!  
I come downstairs and see Tyler inviting Elena in. "Hey," I say as I step down. She doesn't say anything; she just looks at me with a face full of recognition. "Um, hey Wo- Carmen." "Close call, Kat." I smile, realizing that it's not Elena. She comes up to me and puts an arm around my shoulder and whispers, "Hey Wolfie." That was her nickname for me back in England. I met her when I was a sophomore. She was killing somebody and I saw. She compelled me to forget but werewolves can't be compelled. After that, for some reason, we became friends. I kept her secret. For some reason, she didn't want anybody knowing. She was covering her tracks; But why? I figured out that part a little while afterwards. She was running from Niklaus Mikaelson. I didn't know who it was at the time, but according to my dream last night, I had knownhim _intimately_ once upon a time. Kat and I caught up with each other and told each other what was going on. This probably isn't good since she on the best terms with my other friends, but she was my friend first, and she is my best friend. Bonnie comes speed walking over and I know that it's my time to leave. "Cheers," I say, laughing as I walk away. I walk into Richards's office and see Jeremy drinking one of his alcoholic beverages. I take it from him and say, "You're too young," and take a sip. Mason comes in, boots Jeremy out, and has a drink with us.  
I am in the room with Tyler and he stands there, looking at a family portrait, and all of a sudden smashes it and throws all the other pictures down. "Tyler! What are you doing?" Carol demands. "I hate him." I put my hands on his shoulders and say, "No you don't, Ty." He pushes me on the couch and I get mad, very mad. Mason comes in and tackles Tyler, calming him down. I sit there, my jaw clenched, holding in my anger. That failed. I speed walk out the room and run outside. I hear Carol about to come after me, but Mason tells her to let me cool off. I run all the way to the Grill and contemplate whether I should go in or not. I walk closer to the Grill but somebody calls out behind me, "Hey!" I turn around to see a man who's about 6'0'', mid 30's, with brown hair and blue eyes. "Who are you?" "You're Carmen, right?" "Depends who's asking." He smirks. "I'm Maddox. I believe we could be of use to each other." "How so?" "You want to live and I want to please Klaus." He says with a grin before chanting a knockout spell, " _Phasmatos Somnus."_ Then everything went black.  
(A/N (Time skip to 2x17) I wake up, gasping for breath. I see Katherine on the floor and crawl over to her to try to prop her up. We both give each other looks saying _what the hell is going on?_ Katherine tries to speed out, but is locked in by a barrier of some sort. "Zdravei, Katerina. I have missed you." "Klaus," She responds, obviously shocked. But trust me, there is nobody in this whole bloody world who isn't more frightened than me. A man that I apparently have a romantic history with, according to a dream set at least 800 years ago, is right in front of me. I am practically pissing my pants right now. I've hid my emotions all my life. Just think about how happy Jayden must be at camp right now! Breathe, in and out, in and out. "What, I don't get a magnificent intro, but she does? I'm wounded." Klaus smirks. Wow how did I do that? I didn't think I had  that in me! "Hello, Mariana." He kisses my forehead.  
I've been passed out for a week or two, or three, I don't know, Klaus won't tell me. I have been having memory dreams again, in first person too. Klaus trusts me for some reason, so he lets me leave, as long as I give him my word that I will return. Somebody very important to me taught me to always keep my word. It is a person's best quality. I don't know whom, though. Probably someone from my mysterious "other life." I wish I knew what is going on, Klaus seems to know; maybe I can make him tell me? Or maybe I can… _bribe_ him, like in my dream? That seems to work. No, I have a feeling that it would be better that Niklaus doesn't know my "memories" are coming back.  
I wake up in the apartment and go to the closet to get find an outfit for me, and one for Kat as well. (A/N Just thought I'd show you Carmen's tattoos  /carmens_tattoos/set?id=174217619). I get dressed in  /cgi/set?id=166360099 and leave the apartment, planning on going to my house, to get my hair chalk to color my hair differently. I get a call from Klaus and he tells me to go to the boarding house and then go to school with Elena.  
I walk up the steps of the Salvatore Boarding House and hear, "Can we do one of those witch tracking spells?" "Their called locater spells, and no. Not without something that belongs to Ni- Klaus." That was a stupid move, Carmen! The boys both engulf me in a hug and Damon is the first to speak, "Where have you been, Carmen?" He scolds. Should I tell them? "One of Klaus's men took me. 'E tried to get answers out of me but when he didn't get anything useful, he left me in an alley to rot. Well, that is, after he spelled me into a two week coma." Klaus better give me a standing ovation for that improv. They catch me up on what is going on and then Damon asks, "Do you think he killed her?" "Katherine? Probably," Stefan said bluntly. "I don't think he did. Katerina has been running for _500 years_ , he wouldn't let her off that easily.  
Elena lets Stefan in and then tells Damon he has to obey the rules or something. I secretly walk down to the cells and see _Elijah_ 's daggered body. I learned who he was two nights ago: the oldest Mikaelson. I don't think anybody understands how powerful they are, or the fact that they're family, but I don't plan on selling the Originals out any time soon. I scurry up to the parlor, where Bonnie is sitting, and ask her, "Hey, do you think I could talk to you about," I lower my voice so only she can hear, "witch business?" She nods and we go upstairs. As long as we whisper, Damon and Stefan can't hear us. I start describing my dreams, without much detail so I don't give away anything she isn't supposed to know. She sits there, shocked, and then says, "The way you describe these dreams it sounds like what memory dreams are, but that's impossible. That seems to be over 800 years ago, and you are an 18-year-old werewolf! You weren't alive 800 years ago." I start to get an immense pain in my head, enough for me to fall down on the floor. I start screaming in pain and Bonnie questions what's wrong. Sh starts chanting a spell that helps with the pain, and then I get some sort of vision, in the style of my dream.  
I am in the field where my first dream was held. I seem to be in the dream myself. I see Kol running in the field, chasing me. But not me right now, but me from 800 years ago. "The Bennett witch won't be able to help," A voice says. I turn around and see a woman with long, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes emerging from the forest. "Who are you?" I ask. "I am Esther. I suppose you haven't gotten the part I played in your memories back yet. Let me tell you something. 856 years ago, I was on the other side, and you were with my children. You made them happy, which I was very grateful for, but then you implanted something into all of their minds – that vampires were not always evil. You turned my children against me even more so than they already were. So, in turn, I killed you. After 838 years of thinking it over, I decided that you didn't deserve that, so with some help, I gave you a new life. Don't make me regret my decision, Mariana. When I come back, you _will_ help me; and you _won't_ have a choice, because I can take away your life just as easily as I gave it." And then she disappeared.  
I gasp for breath as Bonnie helps me up and we go downstairs. "What the hell was that about?" Damon questions, with a worried look plastered on his face. "Oh, nothing. Witch drama." Elena is finishing up talking to Stefan and we link arms with her. "I'm ready, I know what to do." Bonnie reassures a worried Stefan. "And besides, tonight is a full moon, I will kill anybody that touches any one of us," I say with an evil grin. "Sometimes, you are very intimidating," Elena says. I smirk and then laugh.  
We walk into class and Elena shows Stefan the 60s decade dance flyer. He shook his head so she turned around and showed Bonnie and I. We nodded our heads and laughed. Bonnie hasn't talked about what happened, so I am planning on confronting her about it at lunch today, and telling her what happened. Ric walked into the classroom and asked what we were learning today. When someone answered the 60's, he started saying what happened. "Watergates was the seventies, Ric," I corrected. People glared at me so I said, "I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman."  
At lunch, I overhear Jeremy and Bonnie talking. What does he mean she can't do the spell?! "You promised to keep my secret, I'm trusting you." At that, I walked over and sat next to Jeremy. "Sup Jerbear." I smiled at him and he hugged me. "Don't ever be kidnapped again." I laughed. "So, Bonnie. About the thing that happened at the Salvatore house-""I'm not gonna tell anybody," She reassured me. "We'll talk about it more later, yeah?" "Ok." I get up and leave to go buy lunch. When I come back, I see Dana talking to Elena and I sit down next to her. "But he wants you to save him the last dance, how cute is that?" She asks Elena. For some reason I feel something odd that makes my heart ache slightly, _jealousy_. I shouldn't be jealous. Klaus is only messing with Elena. I do always find myself wondering, does Klaus love me like he used to? "She's been compelled," Bonnie stated. I got a call from _Ric_ and picked it up. "Ric?" I ask, secretly informing him that people are listening. "Ела да ми апартамент след училище." (Ela da mi apartament sled uchilishte/Come to my apartment after school.) Wow, Nik, you had to start speaking Bulgarian… "сигурен"(Siguren/sure) We all, minus Ric, go over to the Salvatores' and talk about Bonnie being our secret weapon. "If I can find him, I can kill him," Bonnie states. "That's not going to be that easy, I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around," I defend."Carmen has a point. I mean what if he-" Damon speeds up to bonnie, but she tosses him across the room wiith the flick of a wrist. Ten minutes later, I'm at Ric's flat and I see Kat covered in blood with a knife in her hand, and Maddox talking with Nik. "Where have you been, Mariana?" He scolds. "At the Salvatores'. We've got a bit of an issue." I tell him everything that happened and he devises a plan with Maddox to kill him. You may be wondering why I am helping Nik instead of untying my friend and getting the hell out of there. Klaus threatened Jayden's life, so I have to do as he says or he'll kill him. After I finish explaining, Jayden's camp director rings me. "Hello?" "Hello, are you Miss. Ash, Jayden's caretaker?" "Yes, why? Is something wrong?" I ask as I take the bourbon Maddox handed me. "It seems that Jayden is… lashing out again. He is becoming very agitated with his fellow campers, and is hitting and punching them from time to time. I am going to have to ask you to take him out of camp for the time being, until his anger is resolved." Damn it. He can't be involved in this stuff. And what's even worse is that his anger is starting to show. "We will send him on the bus home, since it says in your records that you cant leave town at the moment. He'll be home tomorrow morning." The woman says. "Ok, thank you." I hang up and sigh in exasperation. "Well it seems that we will be having another Duval in the midst," Klaus said with a smirk. Duval is my birth name: Mariana Duval. "Klaus, I swear to god if you hurt him, I-" "You'll what?" Klaus asks, with a smirk still plastered on his face. "I'll find _him_ , and I will send him after you," I threaten before storming out. I see the spark of fear in his eyes, and feel bad. Oh well… Waking Mikael is pretty much the biggest threat I could think of, and I wanted to be clear about my intentions. I went to the dance, as I was already dressed in my clothing. Everybody started slow dancing and Klaus did a shout out to elena, dedicating a song tl her, and I felt that pang of _jealousy_ again. I saw one of my friends who I barely hang out with anymore, and went over to him. "Hey, Jack." "Hey, Carmen! You have really been on the down low for a while, where've you been?" he asked. "Um, visiting family out of state." He nodded and held out his hand. "Well, would you like to dance?" I took it and we started slow dancing. I felt eyes watching us, and saw Klaus look about ready to kill Jack. Huh, so maybe he does still have feelings for me? We keep dancing and I notice Jack is quite good. We laugh and Stefan comes up to me and asks Jack, "Can I steal Carmen for a moment?" He nods and walks away. "Klaus is here, so keep an eye out. If you smell anything, let me know, ok?" I laugh. "If I smell anything?" "Isn't that a thing? You sniff the bad guys out?" "um, no, I'm not a super wolf, sorry." He laughs and walks away.  
I am running through the halls, in search of Elena, Bonnie, and Nik. I see them and see Bonnie fighting off Klaus. "Elena!" I yell, pulling her arm. "No! We have to help Bonnie!" "No, Elena, we have to get you out of here. I'm a werewolf, therefore, a hell of a lot stronger than you. So please Elena, don't make me drag you." She resists so I yank her arm and run out of there with her. Damon comes and tells us to get Stefan so we do so, Elena still resisting. We find him, and come back to where Damon is. "She's doing what she has to do." "What?" Elena asks, confused. "Where is she?" Stefan asks. "Stefan, let her do this," "Damn it, Damon, Where is she?!" He asks, angry. We all go to the cafeteria and Bonnie locks the doors. Eventually, Bonnie falls to the ground. Klaus disappears. Elena starts freaking out. "Get her home, Stefan. I'll deal with the body," Damon says. "What to you mean deal with it?" Elena demands, looking between Damon, Stefan, and I. "Sherriff can't know about this. Last thing we need's another mysterious death," Damon says. "This is Bonnie!" Elena yells. "Stefan, get her home, now so we can clean this up," Damon orders. I go back to the flat and get out my laptop after getting changed. Tyler is gone, Jayden's coming back, and I don't want to bother Carol with me staying there, so I pull up the house that I was looking at before. I really love it and know that Jay will too. I email my realtor, saying I want to look into buying the property with her tomorrow, gather my things, and go back to the Lockwood's.  
I wake up and get dressed in  /cgi/set?id=171310115. I go downstairs and have an awkward breakfast with Carol. I then tell her that I found a wonderful house. She is happy for me and sad at the same time. The realtor coming over overlaps with when I am supposed to pick up Jay, so Carol says she'll pick him up. The realtor comes and we talk about the house and start signing papers. We had discussed this before, so she is prepared with the necessary documents because she knows I would be buying the house. After I signed the last paper, she tells me that the house is mine. I start packing everything I can fit in my car, and call the storage facility that has the rest of my stuff to bring everything to my house. It is on the same street as the Salvatore house, which is brilliant. The storage people help me unpack all of the furniture into the house – ok, I don't actually do any of the work, but when they came to my house in LA to get the stuff, Luke had compelled them all to help me whenever I asked. I have them send for more people, and with so many workers, the house has all of the basic furniture unpacked quickly. I also almost finish unpacking my and Jay's clothing. We both have nice walk in closets, so it takes some time to finish. When I am done, I decide, for some reason, to take a walk in the park. As I am leaving, Jay and Carol pull into the driveway. I run up to Jay and hug him. Then I pull away and slap his head. "Ow! What was that for?" He demands. I glare at him. "I'm sorry, but the guy was being a douche, I just got… angry." "It's ok, just at least try not to be that stupid, Jay. I am not letting you trigger that damn curse at the age of 14." "Besides that, how was school?" I ask. "Boring, stupid, unnecessary." I laugh, thank Carol, and we start walking in to the living room. We sit down and I ask him, "Have you been having any particularly odd dreams lately?" "Um, no. Why, have you?" I have a feeling he's lying so I say, "Are you sure, Jayden?" he gulps, and probably hopes I didn't hear it, but I did. I yell, "If you are lying, tell me, Jay! This is really important, ok?"  
Jayden's POV:  
She breathes in and out, trying to calm myself. Sometimes, my sister scares me. I know her anger is from the werewolf gene but still, she can get really mad really fast. "Just," she pauses, "please. Have you been having weird dreams?" She asks more softly. "Ok, fine. Yea, I have been having weird dreams. But they aren't really dreams, more like warnings. There is a woman, with dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, and 10th century clothing. She keeps telling me these two phrases: _Things are not as they seem. More people than you would believe are conspiring against you, Percy Duval._  
Who the hell is _Percy Duval_ and what does this woman want from me, Carmen?" She starts walking again, thinking about how to respond to my question. Sure, I didn't tell her  everything that this woman tells me, but I told her all she needs to know for now. She starts explaining to me how she has dreams too. I can tell she is hiding something from me about these dreams, because she doesn't give names, or clothing. Just too many damn pronouns… When she finishes, she gets a call. "Hello?" She asks. "I don't want him getting involved, Klaus." "Good, but I'm still not going." "I swear to god if you touch Kat-" Katherine? The girl who befriended both of my sisters in England? She's here? "Fine. Just, don't try anything that will push me off the edge, Klaus. The threat still stands." She hangs up angrily and says, "You remember Kat, right?" I nod. "We're going for a little visit."

Carmen's POV:  
I hear Carol say, "Elijah, Elena, what are you doing here." Jayden is about to ask me who they are but I put his hand over his mouth and silence him. I take it away and wave for him to come into the kitchen. We duck behind the counter and hear Elijah say, "Excuse me, I'll be down in a moment." I walk up with Jayden behind me and say, "What the hell is an Original doing in this house, Elena?" "I'm _talking_ with him. And he brought me here, I don't know why." I hear Elijah beginning to descend from the stairs and I grab Jayden's hand and go out the back. We go into Ric's apartment and Katherine turns around with a bottle of bourbon in her hand and asks, "Jayden?" "Hey, Katherine." "Wow, didn't think I'd see you here, since everything that's going on." "What's going on," Jay asks, looking between her and me. "I'll explain everything later, but for now, pour me a bourbon, would you Kat?" I ask with a smile. "So, where are Ryland and Arden?" "They, um, passed away, along with my mother." "Oh, so it's just you two?" "Pretty much, yeah," I answer. A little while later, we leave and I tell Jayden, "Want to see something cool?" He nods and I start walking. We eventually arrive at our new house and Jayden asks, "Um, it's a nice house, but what are we doing here?" I ignore the question and walk inside, Jayden following close behind. "Welcome home, brother."  
An hour later, I have told Jayden everything that I know about this town. Who the vampires are; what's happened so far; what Klaus _really_ wants, everything besides the content of my dream. Then I hear my phone ringing and Nik tells me it is time for me to go to his apartment for the body swap. That is what he had called me about earlier. He told me to come when he was ready for the swap, because he wanted me to be there for some reason. "I've got to go do something, but you can go wherever you want. Tomorrow, you start school." He groans and then says, where are you going, Carmen. No more secrets, remember?" "I'm going to Klaus. He needs me there for the body swap." He nods and then says, "Ok, well I'm going to unpack my suitcases from camp." I nod and say, "Do me a favor? There's a gym downstairs, use it. I have a feeling you will need that strength in this town." He nods and I get in my car to leave.  
I enter the apartment just after Klaus compels Katherine to sit down and shut up. I sit down next to her and when Greta walks in, I ask, "Тя не е ли малко по- млад, за да се направи магията (Isn't she a little young to do magic), Niklaus? Тя изглежда да е на същата възраст като брат ми – петнадесет

. (She looks to be the same age as my brother – fifteen)" Katherine laughs and Klaus says, "She is one of the strongest witches I know, she can do it, easily." Greta smirks and says, "Nice body, you ready to get out of it?" Greta asks flirtingly. There goes that feeling again, _jealousy_. Ugh, why am I jealous of someone flirting with an ass like Klaus? _It is because we were once in love. He doesn't know that though, lets keep it that way._ The little voice in my head tells me. Ok, yes, fine! Sometimes I talk to myself. When I'm alone it's out loud, but when I'm not, it's in my head, for obvious reasons, being as I don't want people to think I'm a lunatic. I see the coffin as some people wheel it in and immediately my vision goes black.  
 _I am back in the same field, and I see Esther once again. "One death threat wasn't enough?" I ask. "Don't push your luck, love. I have come to give you your memories of Niklaus back. This will hurt, so lets hope Katerina's blood is enough to keep you alive in this process," She says with a smirk and then disappears again._  
I shoot up and see Katherine and Klaus staring at me, while everybody else gets the spell ready. "are you alright? You passed out," Klaus asks with surprising concern in his voice. "You know, your mother can be a real bitch," I say before blacking out again. This time I am in the Mikaelson Mansion.  
 _"Niklaus!" I hear Kol call. "Kol! Shut the bloody hell up, will you?" I yell from my chambers. I hear him laugh, and then hear Rebekah scream, "Shut up!" at the top of her lungs, which makes Kol and I erupt in laughter. "What is it, brother?" Nik calls. "We have a visitor." At that, I shoot up from bed and get dressed. I always love when people come and visit. There have been witches, warlocks, beggars, vampires, and even a few of my own kind. I rush to the door and see a woman with dark skin, brown eyes, and beautiful hair_ _/F96Zk8_ _. "You must be Mariana. I am Annalisa Bennett. I was sent by your mother." Something was off about her. Not only that she knew my bitch of a mother, but that she was sent by her. "Bennett? So you're a witch?" Kol asks, intrigued. She nods. "Why did my mother send you?" I ask. "May I come in so we may talk?" I nod hesitantly._  
 _We are sitting by the fire with tea as we talk. "I have known your mother since I was born. She has always been so kind to me and my family." "Well I suppose we have met different versions of my mother, as she has always been in a nark around her children." "As you know, she has some mental disabilities. You mustn't blame her for being who she is." "I mustn't blame her!" I yell. Nik puts his hands on my shoulders from behind to calm me down. "The entirety of my life, I have known an awful person who is greedy and doesn't care for her children one bit, and yet she seems to have cared for you immensely. Just tell me why you are here, so you may leave." I tell her harshly. I don't mean the things I say, but my mother is a "sensitive" topic to say the least. She starts laughing. "She was right." I give her a look telling her I don't understand. "Esther was right about you. She said your temper is unbelievable, and that you aren't one to welcome newcomers and she was right. You did seem nice at first, so I am sorry that I must do this." "Do what?" I ask. Niklaus stands in front of me protectively, "Yes, what is it you speak of." She just laughs again and starts chanting, "Lihednat Dolchitni." I start suffocating and Niklaus runs after the girl, who has inconveniently disappeared, and then comes to me to try and help. I am still suffocating as the other Mikaelsons come downstairs and try to help. "Mariana!" Rebekah speeds over to me, trying to help. A few seconds later, I fall down lifelessly._  
I am in a forest and the wind is blowing heavily in my face. "Carmen?!" I hear a familiar voice scream. I turn around to see Lexi standing there, crying. I go up to her and squeeze her tightly. A minute or two later, Lexi pulls away and says, "Wait, why are you here?" "I don't know, where is _here_?" I ask clueless as to what is going on. "Car, you're on the other side."


	5. 5 Once A Mikaelson, Always A Mikaelson

"So, aside from you being dead, do you at least remember?" "Remember what?" I play dumb. She glares at me and I say, "Yea. I. Remember. _Everything_ ," I inform her. "How do you know about that?" "You talk to yourself." I laugh. I then realize something, "When I hugged you, I was quite, how do I say this, caught up in the moment. But something I didn't realize was," I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder, "I can't feel you." She smiles. "I presume this is a good thing?" "Very. It means you aren't dead, Carmen! It also means you don't have much time. You need to find your body. Now," She orders. I run away, trying to find how to get out of the forest. I find my way to the cemetery, and then to Town Square. From there, I find my way to Ric's apartment. I walk in and see Katherine shaking me, yelling to get up. I run over to my body and touch it.

I wake up, remembering everything and Katherine asks, "Oh my god, you're alive, how are you alive? I mean its great but…" I ignore her remark and see that Nik has started the spell, knowing I would be ok. I see Alaric come back and he sees Kat and asks, "Elena?" He immediately falls to the ground and I have the urge to see if he's all right, but Katherine holds me back. Maddox turns the box around and Niklaus comes out and says, with his infamous smirk, "Now that's more like it." I can't help but smile and he sees it. _I should probably ignore the urge to kiss him right here right now in front of my best friend and two idiot witches._ Ugh, shut up, me! Why the bloody hell am I arguing with myself…

Klaus decides to go out and surprisingly enough, go _house hunting…_ I decide to come with him because I'm bored out of my skull. On the way there, Klaus asks me, "So you remember everything. Well that's exciting." I laugh and he looks at me for a particularly long time. "Keep your eyes on the road, _Blondie_." That is what I always used to call him. He laughs and hesitantly turns his head. "It's been 856 years, Mariana. I don't know how I didn't go mad without you for that long." "If that's some creepy stalker way of saying you missed me, then thank you. I remember being on the other side, Nik. Watching you as you saw me fall to the ground. The fact that I couldn't comfort you and say that it was all going to be ok, it was awful. I hated it, Nik." He looked back at me again, leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I will never leave you again, love." It's quite odd as to how this relationship escalated in a matter of minutes. He is about to turn his head but I put my hand on his cheek lovingly and peck his lips. He smiles and I do as well. "Just like old times, huh Nik?" "Just like old times," He repeats.

An hour later, we are on our way back and I ask, "Do you really think you can break the curse?" "I can and I will." "When it's broken, can you _please_ undagger Kol and Bekah?" He nods and says, "What, not Finn? He always was a party animal." I laugh at his sarcasm and he drives into the Grill's driveway. "Nik… what are we doing here?" "Paying a visit to your friends," He informs me with a smirk. I roll my eyes and get out. He walks in and sits next to Damon as I go up to Matt. I watch as he contemplates whether to go over to Damon and try to help out. As he is about to go ver there, I put my hand on his arm and hold him back. "Let's try not to go on any suicide missions today, mate," I say with a smile. "Carmen, we have to help Damon and Alaric." "As I just said, it's a suicide mission that I am not really inclined to go on." "Car, are you ok? Normally you would have already rushed over to help your friends." _He's right. I would've._ Why am I siding with Klaus anyway? I ask myself. _You are because you love him._ The voice in my head tells me. I then realize something.

Just like earlier, I'm having an argument with _myself_ , but what I didn't realize before, is that the voice in my head has a mind of it's own. That mind is 856 years old. That mind is Mariana's, and it is fighting with Carmen. She loves Klaus, and Carmen is on the brink of falling for him. When she's around him, Mariana takes over.

"Carmen?" Matt snaps me out of my trance. I see Klaus finishing up so I say, "Nice chat, mate, but I best be going to deal with a certain idiotic Damon," I say with a smirk. I then leave and go over to the bar. "What did my suckish wolf hearing tell me you did?" I ask Damon. "I may or may not have fed Elena vampire blood." "You did what?" I yell, causing people to look over. "Keep it down!" He whisper yells at me. "So I assume you have a plan to fix this?" "We are going to ask Katherine where they are keeping the wolf." I haven't thought about who the wolf it. It's probably some loner wolf I guess… I laugh and say, "Katerina will _never_ tell you, Damon." "With the proper leverage she will."

Damon's POV:

Carmen seems to be asking a lot of questions for some reason, I don't know why. She has seemed really distant lately as well. "Leverage? That _leverage_ must be pretty damn irresistible," She says with a laugh. Carmen can be so cute sometimes. She has something about her that makes her friendly. I have seen her interact with strangers, and sometimes, it isn't cute, but with her friends, she's amazing. I think of her as a little sister, one whom I can share laughs with, and protect as well. "We've got to go, Car." "See you later," She says. "Bye," Ric and I respond.

Carmen's POV:

Shit. Shit. Shit. Oh Shit. Ok, I am really mad right no. He is going to get himself and Katerina killed! I run back home as fast as I can. I know Niklaus left me. It was the plan. I was supposed to see if I could find out more, and I did. Nothing I will be sharing with Nik though…

I get in my car when I get home and drive down to the tomb. I need to get there before Damon does. I park about 1000 feet away and run up where I see Matt on the ground unconscious near a dead Maddox and Damon standing above the two. I look at the bodies and then Damon. Then, I smell something. I smell a wolf. Not a boring old helpless wolf, instead my best friend. "Tyler," I say aloud to myself. "Yep." We race downstairs to hear Tyler and Caroline having a "sentimental talk." "Save it for couples therapy," I tell them and walk over to get Tyler's chains undone. I take a bar of metal and pop off the chains. I look around the room for any cameras and see none so I start leave. "What are you doing back?" I ask Tyler. "I got a call from my mom saying she was in the hospital. She fell down the stairs. You live with her, shouldn't you know?" "I moved out with Jay, since he got kicked out of school for starting yet another fight. And I had no idea that happened to your mom, I'm sorry Ty. Ahh!" I start screaming.

Tyler's POV:

Carmen starts screaming and Caroline and I exchange looks. "She's been a wolf since she was a young child, her transformations happen earlier and quicker than mine. We need to get to our family cellar." Shit. I slipped up on words. They both notice and look at me oddly before helping to drag Carmen out. Her bones start cracking and I start freaking out. "Come on guys, we only have a few mi- aah!" "Oh not another one…" Damon complains. We run up and see Matt so Caroline rushes over. "Ahhh!" I scream in agony. "It's starting!" "Come on, we don't have much time. Grab boy wonder and let's go." Carmen starts screaming again and hunches over in pain. I feel bad for her. This is the first time she's tried to stop the transformation. She has told me these stories of how her and her family would roam free in the forest and not worry about hurting anybody. I grab onto her shoulders, pull her up and keep walking with a tight grip on her, making sure she doesn't fall. I start to feel it to and groan at the discomfort. Carmen then screams a shrilling noise and her bones break. Her eyes change color and she starts to transform. "Run," is all I tell them. "She is going to transform, run!" I demand. Damon hands them weapons and I see Carmen in full wolf form. She is fighting the urge to kill the three, but I see that she is winning her urges. I don't think she will be able to for much longer, though. Everything starts to fade and my vision goes blurry.

Carmen's POV:  
I've been a werewolf since I was five years old and had a run in with a bad vamp. I know a few tricks. First trick – I know how to keep my "composure" during transformation. I race down the stairs to the cellar door with Tyler. I try to guard the door, but eventually, he bites me lightly and throws me aside. I recollect myself and run into the cellar. I growl loudly and tackle Tyler. He fights back. "Tyler! That's Carmen! That's your best friend! Think!" She screams. She's wasting her breath. He has no idea who I am for the moment. He pushes me to the ground and I charge at him. He jumps to the side and I crash into the wall. One thing about wolves, we recover quickly. I then hear another wolf scream in agony from a ways away. Nobody else knows who it is, and Matt sure as hell can't hear it, because of his human ears, but I know the owner of that voice – Jules. I howl at her but realize that her scream was a scream of pain, not transition pain, but death pain. I throw Tyler against a wall and run to where my wolf senses tell me she is. I stop as soon as I see the ritual starting. "What's happening to me?" Jules asks. "I cast a spell to slow down your transformation. Your insides are trying to tear themselves free," Greta says with a smile. Ok, I may not like Jules, but she is a wolf. I run up to Greta and growl threateningly to make my presence known. Greta flicks her hand and I go flying down the bush-covered hill. Greta knows Klaus' rules, no hurting me "permanently". She knows her powers well. She knows her strength. She also knows just how to make me hurt without causing permanent damage.

Greta starts chanting and I lie there, wounded, unable to help my friends, let alone move. I see Klaus rip Jules's heart out, and I whimper quietly. Klaus sees me, and recognizes me in my wolf form. He has, after all, seen it many times before. I remember how he used to watch and help me turn every time, fascinated by the process. That is, after all, how we met. I see the look of guilt for me in his eyes. He then turns away to go back to ritual. By now, I have fully recovered and am running off as far away from civilization as I can. The problem with this trick, although it has it's perks, the last few minutes, I go wild, wanting to kill everybody and everything I see. The urge to kill is heightened, and my running is as fast as vampires, if not faster. I can choose whether to be chained up and go through transition normally, or roam freely until the last few minutes and risk hurting people. Chains can't hold me back when I do the trick. My motivation is too strong. A few minutes later, my vision goes blurry.

I wake up on my couch and see Jayden bringing me some tea. I have a blanket covering me but no clothes underneath. "Don't worry, I didn't see anything. You showed up in the front yard." "Jay, what time is it?" "8:49." "What? I've been out for almost a quarter day?" "No. You've been out for almost two days." "What?!" I ask. "Yea. And, uh, Stefan came by. He asked if we would come to Jenna and John's funeral." "They're both dead?" He nods his head. "Go get dressed, Jay. We're going," I tell him as I get up, the blanket still wrapped around me. I put on cgi/set?id=174642720.

We are at the cemetery, and Elena is in front of her parents' grave and is crying. I see Jayden walk over to our family's "section." I shake my head at him, warning him that if he goes over there, he will burst. We moved them here when we were settling in. Well, we moved everybody besides Ryland, because Ryland is in a military cemetery in LA. Jay walks up to our father's tombstone. He isn't buried there, as he had a traditional wolf funeral, but, as my grandmother would phrase it, his spirit is. I walk over and crouch down next to Jay, who's head is bowed in front of the stone. Our father taught us to always be respectful to the dead. Don't cry. Don't laugh. Just respect them. I still don't understand it, but, for him, I don't. For the rest of my family, I do, but not him. We bow our heads as a sign of respect for him. Jayden mumbles something to him under his breath and then lets a tear drop. I pull him close to me and kiss his head. I then do something I was told not to ever do for him, I cried for my father. I cried for so long. I then looked at the rest of my family's graves and cry more. Elena comes over and asks, "Is this your family?" I nod, not trusting my voice to speak. She gently pulls me up and wraps me in a hug. "I'm sorry, Carmen. I had no idea." "I'm sorry too, 'Lena. You lost a lot also. I'm sorry for that." Then she pulls away and hugs Jayden. "I'm sorry for your loss, Jayden." Then he does something I have only seen him do once in his entire life, at my family's funeral – cry. He wraps his hands around Elena and hugs her, and her him. "I need to tell you something," Damon says. I go a few feet away and he says, "Tyler let something slip the other night when he was talking. He said ' We need to get to _our_ family cellar' when you were transforming." "Oh my god. So what does that mean?" "Got any secret relatives your family never told you about?" I sniff for a second. "What do I smell?" I ask myself. I smell a werewolf scent. Oddly enough, I pick up Damon's arm and yank up the sleeve. I see a huge bite. "Oh my-" Damon cuts off my yelling, "Sh!" "Damon, werewolf bites kill vampires." "Don't you think I know that?" Stefan has been listening to our conversation and rushes over and says, "You were bitten?" "More like nipped, really." "We'll find something; A cure." "There's no cure, Stef," I inform him sadly. "We kept Elena alive, right? We found a way when there was no way. Hey. I will do this" Stefan encourages. "You want to do something for me? Keep this from Elena. Last thing she needs is another grave to mourn," Damon tells us and then walks away. Stefan and I exchange looks then I walk away to join Jayden.

It's been a few days and I am in the park. Jeremy is dragging me to some movie night thing that his sister is dragging him to. We are sitting down and Stefan asks to take a walk with Elena, obviously to tell her about Stefan. "If you wanted to talk to him, I-I wouldn't wait." "Stefan_" Elena starts. "It's not over. There might be a cure. But I have to find Klaus to get it." "And that's where I come in." I say, walking up to them. "You can contact Klaus?" "Elena, there's something that I haven't told you, or anybody. The only people who know are Bonnie and Jayden. 800 years ago, I was alive. I lived in a big house, by a pond and a big grassy field. There were children and neighbors, and I was so happy. But the thing is, that wasn't my house. It wasn't my perfect neighborhood, and perfect scenery. It was Klaus'. One night, a while before that, I was in a field. I was in transformation. There was a hunter trying to kill me while I was in transformation, but somebody saved me." "Klaus." I nodded. "We fell in love Elena. And then, I was killed. Now I'm here, reborn, I suppose. I don't really know how, but I am. I only just got my memories of the Originals back though." By the time I am done, Stefan and Elena's faces are hilarious, along with Jeremy and Caroline's, who had been listening. "Wow," was all she could say.

Elena goes to Damon whilst Stefan and I go to Klaus. We get in my car, after we apologize to Jer and Caroline for ditching them. We arrive at the apartment and it looks quite dark. We both wonder if he is there or not. We come in and see Katherine. She starts blabbing about how she should be free and I grab a bottle of bourbon. Stefan and Katherine turn around and in unison say, "You're too young to drink." I laugh before taking a sip. Katherine then hears something show she speeds Stefan to the other side of the wall and shushes him. Klaus and Elijah enter and Klaus says, "You just keep popping up, don't you?" Klaus asks. "I need your help… for my brother," Stefan declares. "Well, whatever it is, he's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention." "You understand how important family is or you wouldn't be here," Elijah says as Klaus whispers something into Katherine's ears. "My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own." Katherine puts one of her hands over my mouth, one over my eyes, and turns us backwards with great speed. "And so I shall," Klaus states at the same time as Kat does this. I hear Elijah's screams and as Katherine takes away her hands, I run over to Elijah and kneel down, contemplating whether to take the dagger out. Nik realizes what I'm about to do so he speeds me against a wall and whispers loud enough for only me to hear, "I wouldn't make that mistake again, Mariana."

 _I have been her a year now and have yet to explore the entire house. Everybody else is out, leaving Kol and I to entertain each other. I start walking up the stairwell and Kol follows me. "Where are you going, darling?" He asks me. "Exploring," I respond with wide eyes and a cheeky grin. Rebekah says I am much like Kol, as does Elijah. I walk past the first room, Nik's painting room, as I have already seen it, because I use it as my drawing room as well. I then pass Elijah's bedroom, and see Kol's. "I wonder what wonders will appear in here?" I ask myself loud enough for Kol to hear me loud and clear. I start to go in and hear Kol say, "Marianaaa!" He runs in my direction but I reach the middle of the bedroom first, only to be thrown onto the bed and tickled to death by Kol. "No, no stop it!" I whine in between laughs. I look to the side and see a desk. "You write?" I ask. His face turns red and he slowly retreats off of me. I race over to the desk and see hundreds of poems. I read a few of them and say, "They're beautiful, Kol!" "Really?" "Of course! They are absolutely brilliant!" I tell him. "Onto the next room," I say after reading some more. After I finish scavenging through the top floor, I go down to the basement. I insist Kol stays beside me because he might be afraid, when in reality, I am. I walk down the echoic stairwell and see many large coffins. Kol sees them too and immediately says, "We best be getting upstairs before the others arrive, Mariana." I ignore him and walk foreword, only to be stopped by Kol grabbing my arm. "Mariana, I said no." I look ay him with pleading eyes but he still refuses. "You're no fun…" I say as I march up the stairs._

 _Later that night, when everybody is asleep, I decide to check it out again. I light a candle and go downstairs. I am well beyond scared but my curiosity overwhelms my fear. I slide open each coffin, them all being empty. I reach the last one, well other than the big one that seems to be locked, and slide it open. I see a man staring back at me and I yelp. I immediately slap my hand over my mouth and examine the creepy man. I see the dagger in his chest so I put my hand over it to pull it out. Immediately, a hand is over my mouth, preventing my screams and a man says, "What are you doing down here, Mariana?" "Niklaus. You scared me." "You should not be here." "Who is this man?" I ask, realizing my hand is still on the dagger. "Finn." "Your brother? What is he doing in a box with a dagger in his chest?" "He upset me, so I daggered him. When, or if the time comes, I will undagger him, but for now, he is dead." I immediately want to undagger him. "Don't do it, Mariana." I ignore him and yank the dagger out of his chest. Nik immediately runs upstairs after scolding me saying, "Mariana! Gah!" A few minutes later, the man wakes up. He shoots up and looks at me. I grab the dagger and cut my wrist open, offering him my blood. "Please, Finn." He takes it and drinks a small amount before asking, "Who are you?" "My name is Mariana Duval. I am a werewolf." He nods and takes in the information. "What year is it?" A.D 1154." He nods again before Nik speeds downstairs, grabs the dagger, puts something on it and stabs Finn's heart._

I storm out of the apartment, angry out of my mind. You know what I'm going to do? I am going to undagger Bekah. I am going to undagger Kol. I am going to undagger Finn. I am going to undagger Elijah. Sure, _Mariana_ may be in love with Klaus, but Carmen sure as hell isn't. I can't put up with him. My memories show me an amazing man who would sacrifice everything for those he love, but I just saw Elijah get daggered for wanting to be with his family. I feel bad for leaving Stefan, but I know Klaus won't kill him or he would've done it by now. I stop by the house and honk the horn. Jay comes out and I tell him to get in. He grabs his phone and does so. The entire ride Jayden is on his phone texting someone. "Who are you texting?" "What? Oh. Um… nobody." I grin and sing, "Jayden's got a girlfriend, Jayden's got a girlfriend!" "Do not!" "Do too!" "Do not!" "Do too!" "Do not!" "Do too!" I finish. "Ok fine. I might. But don't make fun of me!" He says. "Oh stop your complaining!" I yell at him while laughing. We pull into the park and I tell Jayden, "Go find a seat. I'll be right there." He nods and we both get out of the car. "Damon?" I ask as I see him hobbling across the lot. "Damon, look at me." He bares his fangs and I get scared. "Damon! Damon, it's me. It's Carmen. Look at me," I tell him. He does and stares at my neck. "You're hungry? Here," I hold out my arm, knowing the risk I'm taking. He bites into it and starts feeding. A little while later, I say, "Damon, that's enough. Damon, you're hurting me- Damon!" I yell at him. Jay comes up and pushes him away. "You alright?" I nod. Jeremy comes and sees what's going on. "Damon!" He yells. Damon goes to fall and Jayden holds him up.

A little while later, Jay and I are searching for Damon and Elena. We see Damon feeding on her. Jay wants to help but I hold him back. We approach him slowly and I say, "Damon. Listen to my voice, Damon. That isn't Katerina, Damon. It's Elena; remember? That isn't Katherine. Listen to the sound of my voice Damon. I am not with you and Katherine, I'm here, with you and _Elena."_ I say, trying to take him out of this. I have seen many vampires die to werewolf bites; I know how to handle them. Usually Ryland is with me, I talk, and he fights if things get out of hand. I do hate to admit that I'm not as strong as he is, or as he was, anyway. He stops and says, "Elena." He falls to the ground and Jayden sees if Elena is ok as I see if Damon is. Elena and Damon go off to the Salvatore house and Jayden and I get seated again. "You've been training like I asked?" He nodded. "Sometimes with Jeremy and sometimes alone." I nod. "Good. I'll start soon too." I start hearing some sort of a buzz in my head, similar to the one of the Gilbert Device. Jayden doesn't seem to feel it, so asks if I'm ok. I see a witch who is performing the spell right next to Klaus. I put up my hand, as a sign for the witch to stop, as I am coming over. "Ill be right back," I tell my brother, kissing him on the cheek since I know that I probably wouldn't be. I grab my bag and head over to him. "What the hell do you want, Niklaus?" "You've turned cold, Mariana. In the car the other day, you seemed to be so much nicer…" "You killed Elena, Nik! You also killed Jenna, and Jules, and Damon is probably already dead a well! Everywhere you go, you leave a trail of bodies! It didn't used to be this way, Nik. You've- you've changed. Well, so have I." "Mariana-" "That isn't my name. It was, but it isn't now. She was a different girl than I am. Annalisa Bennett killed that girl under _your_ mother's orders." I turn around ready to walk away when Klaus calls out, "Soon enough, I will wake my family. You will have them back and maybe, just maybe, you will rethink your decision." I turn back at him and he and the witch are gone.


	6. 6 No Pain, No Gain

Season 3 Episode 5

A few months pass, I am at the Gilbert house while Jayden is with his friends. I knock on the doorframe. Elena turns around while in bed and says, "Come in." I sit on her bed, as she tries to get out of it. (I'm wearing cgi/set?id=174659723) "We never really talk about the people we have both lost with other people. I know from experience that it sucks. People never understand the pain you feel talking about somebody you miss so much. I think that, me talking about my family and you talking about yours could help." She gave me a look. "I think it'll work! I'll go first." She gets on some clothing and sits back down. "Ok. Talk about Arden first." I take a deep breath in, not emotionally prepared for this. "Arden was my baby sister who was never allowed to grow up, even though she was right under my nose. She wasn't just my sister, but my best friend. We hung out every day, talked, played around, and were wonderfully close. I always loved to take her shopping because we had the same style so we had a blast every time. Whenever I was upset, she would be there and me for her. We were inseparable." I talk on and on about her and I can tall that Elena listens to every word. Elena then does the same for Jeremy and then John and Isobel. I then do my mom and then my dad. "My dad was… a strange man, to say the least. He had odd customs and traditions that I never seemed to quite understand. He was distant with his family. Our mother said it was because of the fact that he had a pack to run. He was Alpha; it was his duty to serve his people. But I knew that wasn't it. After vampires killed him, we learned that he was associating with them. He was trying to find a man by the name of Klaus Mikaelson." "Your dad was trying to find Klaus? Why?" "He knew that I had a past life, he wanted to know why. Curiosity got him killed." "Who killed your father, Carmen?" "Niklaus did."

After we are done, Elena goes downstairs for coffee before going off to the Salvatores and I run into Jeremy's room to wake him up. I go in and jump on his bed and scream "Wake up, baby gilbert!" I tickle him until he finally wakes up. "What are you doing here and why so early?" "To talk to your sister and wake you up and it's not early, you're late for work according to 'Lena." "What?" He looked at his phone clock and groaned. "Maybe they'll fire me?" "Aim high, kid," I say as I walk out of the room.

A few hours later, I am in the mountains with Ric and Elena, searching for Stefan. "You were a boy scout, weren't you?" Elena asks, commenting on his navigating skills. "Shut up." "A boy scout/Vampire Slayer?" I ask. "Yea, slash whiskey-drinking all-around lost cause." We laugh and Ric stops and opens his bag. "Wow, you came stocked," Elena comments. "Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching. Here," He tells Elena, "put that in your bag." As soon as he pulls it out I step back. "Don't worry, Car, I know how to use it. I've used vervain grenades before." "I'm not taking any chances, love," I respond with a smile. "Well, since we're exchanging gifts…" Elena pulls out John's ring. "That's John Gilbert's ring." "It was yours once, go ahead. Take it. It'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into." She gestures for him to put it on. "He gave it to you." "Yeah, but I'm a doppelganger. It's not going to work on me. He left it for if I ever have kids." "Yeah, well, then why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby gilberts?" "Ok, and how 'bout you borrow it until after we survive this? I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour." He reluctantly takes it and pretends to place it on his finger, but slyly puts it in his bag. I sense something here so I grab the closest weapon I can find and flash my eyes. Damon shoves Elena into the water and I start having a laughing fit. "Damon! How are you even here?" "Thanks for the tip, brother," Damon says to Ric. "You sold me out." "You think I'd take you to a mountain range full of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" I smelt something. I start sniffing. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Damon asks, suddenly right in front of me. "I smell wolves. I can sense them getting hurt. Can't you smell the blood?" "Of course I can smell it, but that doesn't mean you're leaving." I glare at him. "You can babysit Elena all you want but I can take care of myself." "Klaus and Stefan are out there-" "But so are wolves. Wolves' first instinct is to protect their own kind. I am their kind. They'll protect me and besides, Stefan would never hurt me." "Neither would Klaus." I shoot her a look, and she immediately understands that I haven't told Damon yet. "Why would he not hurt you? He has every reason to." "Because he needs me for something." Even Elena gave me a look asking _what are you talking about?_ "And what would that be?" I stay silent. "What are you not telling me, Carmen?" He demands. I'm getting angry. If I haven't told him already, shouldn't he presume I don't want to? No. He has to be this persistent. "What are you not telling me!" He yells, frightening even Elena and Alaric. "That. Is. None. Of Your. Blasted.Business!" I scream at the last part, while pushing him into the lake. Before he can speed back up to me, I run at wolf speed through the forest, in an attempt to find Klaus. Why is my first instinct to find Klaus when I'm upset? _It's not. Your first instinct is to find Kol, but he's dead, so Nik is like your backup plan._ I laugh silently while following the smell. When I finally approach Nik and Stefan, there is an entire pack of dead werewolves surrounding them.

Stefan's POV:

"Niklaus. What the bloody hell did you do?" Carmen demands. He explains to her his attempts at creating more hybrids and then asks, "Wait, how are you here? How did you find us?" "You keep forgetting I grew up with wolves, and am a wolf. I know their little corners of the earth that they hide in." "Why didn't we just ask you when we were hunting for wolves?" I ask. "Because Nik knew that I wouldn't tell you. I don't rat out my own kind, unlike vampires," She says with a smirk. I notice that whenever she's around, Klaus is happier and less, well, Klaus. Ray starts saying, "You said it was gonna feel better, why doesn't it feel better?" "Some master race," I say. Lose the attitude," Klaus responds.

Carmen's POV:

We see more Hybrids wake up and I start subconsciously backing up, closer to Nik. Ray runs off and Stefan is ordered to follow. "Its ok, sweetheart. They won't hurt you, and if they do, I'll kill them myself." Then he disappears. I sense a transforming wolf and I run towards it. I see Ray transforming, tied to a tree with rope and being held by Damon. I walk out into the open. "There you are, I was afraid something happened," Elena says while coming over next to me. I smile and go up to Ray "Mariana," he whispers under his breath, loud enough for only I to hear. "Every pack I've come across has been looking for you." "Excuse me?" Damon demands. As soon as he says this, Ray snarls at him and tries to attack but I hold him back. One thing about most wolves, we listen to one another. Ray starts fighting and Damon puts his hands on his shoulders, holding him back. Elena pleads with Damon to leave and I agree. "You need to get out of here, Damon, now." "What about you?" "Nobody seems to remember that I'm a wolf. I'm transforming too. I can protect myself against my own kind, Damon. You all can't, so please Damon, leave," I say, watching Ray screaming in agony.

I know that I must go back to Klaus soon or he'll go on a one-man search party, eventually leading him to Damon and the lot. "Go home, Damon." I then walk away, towards Klaus. I see him talking to the blood bag. "Bad news, my friend. End of the road for you." Klaus bites him, draining him of blood. I walk over to a man whose eyes are bleeding. He's hunched over, coughing out blood. I grab his chin and pull it up, so he is facing me. He growls and I say, "Oh, don't be growling at me, love." "Mariana." I grab the closest stick and immediately plunge it into his heart. "Was that necessary?" Nik asks. "He was rude," I lie. Nik doesn't need to know that many, many Alphas are in search of me. I wasn't supposed to leave Los Angeles. I had blamed it on the amount of memories we have there, but in truth, I fled. I am supposed to marry a pack's Alpha according to my pack's elders. I was supposed to find another pack in California, but I didn't. Not even my siblings knew the _complications_ in this. Only my mother knew, and she is dead. The pack starts to surround Niklaus and then I start screaming. "Bloody hell," I say. My bones start cracking, twisting backwards and then my eyes change and my K9s grow. I try to control myself like I did last month, but it doesn't work. I am a full wolf, fully aware of what is going on, but not able to control it. I smell blood, I don't know if it is human or vampire, but I smell it. "Mariana!" Klaus calls after me. I run faster, at full wolf speed. I see a car. No. No I can't go there. Elena is in that car. No. Please! No! I crash into the side of the car with all my might, crushing it. "Carmen!" Elena calls to me. "How do you know it's her?" "Her eyes, they're purple." What? That's not possible. Have they always been like that? I keep smashing into the door, leaving a dent, until the car starts to move. I run after it, and eventually get in front of it. The car screeches to a stop and Elena stupidly gets out. "Elena, get back in the damn car!" Ric yells. Elena! No, get back in! I yell at her in my mind. "Carmen, it's me. It's one of your best friends. It's Elena." Doing the trick I did on Damon when he was bitten won't help, Elena… I suddenly start howling at the top of my lungs. _Don't kill the doppelganger, Mariana._ I hear Esther's voice tell me. _We'll need her later…_ I start to change back into a human because of Esther's power, and when Elena realizes, she runs to the car, grabs a blanket, and puts it over my still wolf self. I am still in pain so even though my instincts tell me to kill her, I can't, luckily, which she must realize. She pets my fur and I know I need to find Klaus to see where he is. I start whimpering in pain as I transform back into human. She runs to the truck and grabs the change of clothing I had packed earlier. She puts it beside me and asks my now human self quietly so Ric can't, "Do you want to stay here with Stefan and Klaus or come with us?" She obviously knows I went to see Klaus earlier. I look at her and she knows my answer. She brings out my phone and bag and puts it next to me. She goes to get something else for me but when she turns around, I'm gone.

Elena's POV:

I give Carmen her things and go to get the last of it – her sweatshirt. When I come back, Carmen is gone. Damon comes back and gets me in the car. I look out the window and see a fully dressed Carmen next to Stefan for a split second until they're gone. Stefan must've taken Carmen when I turned my back.

Carmen's POV:

We come back to an angry Klaus. "They went rabid. Some of them I killed, the others just… bled out. In the end… They're all dead." He throws his bottle across the forest and it shatters against a tree. "I did everything I was told! I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelganger." I feel awful for lying to him. "You look like hell," Klaus told Stefan. "Last I checked, I'm dying… And you don't want to heal me. I had to take him out. I didn't have a choice. I failed you. I'm sorry." Stefan walks up to Klaus. "Stefan," I whisper, warning him. "Do what you have to do." "It should have worked." He slowly grabs a beer can and fills it up with his blood. "Bottom's up. We're leaving. All of us," He says, looking at me. I guess I'm going with him then…

Carmen's POV:

Bekah, a dead Stefan and I are in a moving truck, waiting for Stefan to wake up. "So, have you missed me, Bex?" I ask her. "Oh, shut up." "You know, I saw you, three nights after witch bitch killed me. You told Kol: I cannot believe Mari's dead! She was one of the best friends I've ever had, Kol," I mock and tease. She pouts and says, "I wouldn't have said it if I knew you'd been eavesdropping." She pauses for a moment. "What's it like, on the other side?" I stop and think for a moment. This subject is hard to talk about. "Awful. You don't have anybody over there, Bex. You can see all of the people and hear them, but they can't see or hear you. No matter how loud you scream." My eyes start to water. "Now that I have my memories back, I see that I'm changing. I'm turning into a different girl. I'm growing a different personality, a mix between Carmen, Mariana, and the girl I was for 856 years on the other side." "Mari, you're turning into yourself." I smile at Rebekah's hidden wisdom and walk over to Kol's coffin. "Don't make that mistake, Mari." "I'm just… looking." I open the coffin and see Kol's face. It's changed. His hair is shorter, his facial expression more, I don't know the word for it, cocky. I know it's poor mannered to call a friend that, but over the years on the other side, I've seen my once young and silly best friend turn into a more mischievous, cocky, ass whom I love with all my heart. I love all the Mikaelsons; they are like my family. No, they are my family. "Oh, he lives." Rebekah announces as Stefan wakes up. I speedily close the coffin and go to Bekah's side. "What happened?" Stefan asks. "You took a beating," I answer with a smirk. "Nik has been breaking your neck all afternoon, you poor thing," I say sarcastically. "Yes, quite the temper," Rebekah says. Stefan ignores our jokes and asks, "Why did he bring us back to Mystic Falls?" As if on cue, I get a call from Caroline. "Hello?" "Where are you? Elena told me that you were having Klaus drama, but you cant miss Senior Prank Night!" "Caroline," "Yea, I know its not your thing, but please? For me?" I laugh and say, "Fine." I hear a squeal of joy on the other end. "Elena wants to talk with you, one sec." "Ca-" "Carmen?" I hear a concerned Elena ask. Stefan looks at me pleadingly so I walk outside the truck. "Hey, Elena, what's up?" "What's up?! You have been with Klaus and ripper Stefan for days now! Are you ok?" She asks. "I'm fine, really," I say, walking back in the truck to grab my keys from Bekah's purse.

I arrive at the school and walk in on Tyler and Caroline making out in the hallway. "Ugh, get a room…" "You came!" "I came," I responded to Caroline with a laugh. "Ty, do you smell that?" "No, what?" I ignore the smell of wolf. "Never mind. You two have fun…" I say with another laugh as I walk into the gym. Klaus turns around and says, "Perfect." "Wha-" He shoves his bloody wrist in mouth and I involuntarily drink his blood. He pulls away and I say, "What the bloody hell are you doing, Niklaus?" Rebekah rushes up to me and says, "I'm really sorry," with a sad smile before snapping my neck.

Elena's POV:

I see Rebekah snap Carmen's neck and I scream, "No!" Rebekah then goes and gets Tyler and Klaus does the same to him. "I need for you to find a way to fix my hybrids, Bonnie. And for their sakes, you better hurry."

Carmen's POV:

I gasp and shoot up. I'm lying next to Tyler. I look over and see Bekah. "You bitch," I say, getting off the table. "Hey, hey, I needed to. If I doubted for even a second that your witch couldn't do what was necessary to keep you alive, I wouldn't have killed you," Rebekah tells me. "Where am I? What happened?" Tyler asks. "They killed us, mate. They bloody killed us," I said, glaring at Rebekah and hopping back onto the counter. "What?" "Tyler, they're turning you both into… vampires. You're in transition." "Please, Care, don't leave out the hard parts," I tell her. "You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not, you're pretty much dead" "And you're ok with this, Car?" Tyler asks me. "I trust Bonnie with my and Jay's life, Tyler. I will put my faith in her to fix this." Care tries to comfort Tyler while I sit out and pull out my phone. Besides the call with Elena, I haven't looked at it or used it at all. 15 missed calls from Jayden. Shit… "I'll be back." I go into the bathroom and do my business and then come out and just stand at the mirror, looking at myself. My hair is still black from when I colored it for the funeral and I am wearing cgi/set?id=174754359. I bend down and splash water in my face, trying to wake myself up. I feel, different. I look at my eyes in the mirror, trying to make them "wolf out" as Arden called it. My eyes have always been orange when I change, like everybody else's, or so I've been told. I eventually get them to and see them a beautiful shade of purple. 1c03/f/2010/150/7/4/the_purple_eye_of_dooom_by_ . I silently scream and jump back in fear. That isn't supposed to be like that. I walk out of the bathroom towards Bekah. I see Klaus come in and say something but I am too out of it to hear. He gives Tyler something and Caroline tries to stop him but is no match for Bekah. Tyler takes some and then Klaus gives it to me. Before I can grab it I fall down as I am so dizzy. Klaus catches me and says, "Careful, love." He puts it in my hand and I drink it, shaking at the pain and loss of vision. I start screaming and the vision goes away. Klaus stands there, intrigued. I fall to the ground and see Bekah contemplating whether she should help. I scream more and Tyler falls down near me. A few minutes of agonizing pain later, I bear me my elongated teeth and purple eyes and Klaus smiles at the success.

I walk into school with my brother, who I haven't told I died to yet. "So, when do I get to meet her?" I ask, referring to his girlfriend. A girl and a guy walk up to him and start talking to him. "Emma, this is my sister, Carmen. Carmen, this is Emma, my girlfriend." "Nice to meet you, Emma." I shake her hand and she reluctantly shakes back. Kids these days don't have any proper manners… What has gotten into me? Emma has tan skin, light brown long very curly hair and is average height. I smile and see Jeremy and say, "I should be going. Wonderful meeting you." I walk off towards Jeremy. "So, how's being dead?" I laugh at Jer's remark and say, "Better than the real thing…" Well I am a depressing person… "Right, I forgot you had experience in the subject of death." I slap his arm. "Douche!"

I go into Ric's room as they are making a plan to take Stefan down. I see Tyler on the ground and ask, "What the hell did you do?" "Nothing. He just passed out for some reason," Damon lies. "You are a dreadful liar, Damon," I inform him while he is pinned up on the wall. "Whatever you're doing to Stefan and Tyler, I suggest you stop or I will have to take matters into my own hands which involves a lot more… death than necessary," I say, glaring at Elena whilst choking Damon. He chokes out, "Gotcha." I smirk and let go. "Don't test me, any of you," before flashing out and hearing Elena say, "That sire thing sure changed Carmen…" I don't know what she's talking about… I decide I've had enough of school and go home. I get a call from Klaus and answer it. "Hello?" "Hello, sweetheart. How's Mystic Falls treating you while I'm gone?" "Awful… When you created me, did you, by any chance, sire me?" "Well, yes, but I wont make you do anything you really don't want to do, love, it just comes with me turning you," He informs me. "Oh, well, I've got to go and start making supper." "It's ten thirty…" "Than lunch." I quickly hang up and sigh. I decide that I am going to fix this. I don't know how, but I am. I go into the kitchen and sit at the island. I hear Jayden and Emma walking down the street, a few houses away. Oh, he is not getting away with skipping school. They walk into the house and I have disappeared. "This is Carmen and I's house." "Where are your parents?" "Oh, they passed away." "Oh, I'm sorry, how?" Well she likes to pry. "I don't really like to talk about it." "Oh, ok." They walk into the kitchen and I speed upstairs, only to fake walking down from a nap or something. "What are you doing home?" I ask. "Oh, I didn't know you were home." "I came home sick. What's your excuse?" I then sense something off. Emma. She seemed odd the first time I met her, and she seems odd now, like she's hiding something. Call it a hunch, but I think she is supernatural. "Well?" I ask. "I wanted to show Emma the house…" "Not good enough." "Well, I didn't want to go after school cause, um-" I start laughing. "What's so funny?" He asks. "You look like you are going to pee your pants, kid," I tell him. "You really think I actually give a damn? When I was fourteen, I had more boyfriends over than I can count. Just, don't do anything stupid," I say before going upstairs with my sketchpad in my hand. I hear something break magically and run downstairs at human speed. "What the hell is going on?" I demand, seeing Emma and Jayden sitting at the island with a broken vase in front of Emma. "Nothing!" Emma immediately spurts out. "I knew there was something off about you, Emma. I just didn't quite know what…" I say. I take a rather large piece of the vase, back up, and whip it at her. With a swipe of her hand, she deflects it and says, "And you're a hybrid." Jayden looks at me funny before growing wide eyed. "I assumed you had told your brother." "You're a hybrid? Klaus turned you? I'm gonna kill that guy." "Calm down Jay-" "Klaus? Klaus is here? Where is he?" Emma asks eagerly. " He-" Jayden starts. "Бъди тих. вещица не трябва да се има доверие/ Be quiet. The witch should not be trusted." I pin her up against a wall and ask, "Why the hell do you want to know about Klaus? And what do you want with my brother?" She smirks and mumbles a spell, throwing me across the room. I yell to Jayden, who is next to my purse, "Обадете Ревека! / Call Rebekah." He slyly does so as I fight the witch bitch. As the witch has me in magic chokehold, Rebekah comes speeding in and pins Emma against the wall, more painfully for Emma than I did. "What do you want with my brother." "I want revenge. He killed my family." Rebekah immediately rips the girl's head off and Jayden just stands there, paralyzed.

Rebekah then disappears with the body, probably to go bury it. I stand there shocked, and then see Jayden, silently freaking out. "Jay..." "Oh my god." "That needed to be done. She was going to hurt Klaus." "You told me you didn't love him anymore. You have your memories of him, but I don't have any memories of a past life. All I know is the dick that killed my sister and is terrorizing her friends. I don't know the guy who you loved. And why are you defending him if you don't love him anymore?" I try to walk closer to him but he steps back. "It's... Complicated. Since he turned me, I have felt this feeling of gratefulness towards him. I feel as though I owe him. That is called a sire bond. I am sired to Klaus. I have fake loyalty and am obliged to protect him and follow his every command. But I think, with your help, I can change that." I think for a moment before saying, "Pack your bags, brother. We're going to fix me."

I leave the house to go get some essentials for the road, when I get a call from Klaus. No, Carmen, don't answer it. I need to. No! "Hello?" "Mariana, how is being dead?" He asks. "Are you serious right now? You bloody killed me!" "Lose the attitude, sweetheart." I immediately lose it and say, "It's, challenging. I'm going on a little trip with Jayden. We'll be back a.s.a.p. but I need to do this, so please don't make me stay." "Very well, but be speedy about it! I need you back when I return."

I pull up to the old lodge in the mountains and Jayden and I get out. "Alex?" I shout. "What are you two doing here?" "I need your help." I tell him everything that has been going on. Alex is a close friend of mine. He is a wolf, but unlike me, he's a loner. He doesn't have a pack, and he likes it that way. He lives a simple life. No electricity, no running water, no car. He hates all that stuff. He prefers it his way. We are inside the lodge, drinking cocoa. I've always found it cool how he boils water over the fire. "So, you feel indebted to Klaus because he took away the pain of you turning. If the pain of turning is no longer there, or at least you can handle turning, then you won't have any reason to feel indebted." I nod and say, "So how exactly does one go about getting rid of the pain of turning?" "Turn enough times for it not to hurt very badly." I sit there shocked. "That's impossible." "Not if you try hard enough." I finally accept the idea and decide to bring up another topic. "I have a question." "Go for it." "Whenever I turn, my eyes are an.. Odd color. They're purple." "Uh, they must be from you being resurrected and all," he lies. "Nik has seen me turn a thousand times and has seen purple eyes every time. What are you hiding, Alexander." "I'm not supposed to tell you." "According to who?" "According to Esther."


	7. 7 Haunted By My Past

It's been a few weeks and Alex tells me this is the last day and after that, I'll be free from the curse. It has gone by so fast because I've been transforming most of _both_ of my lives. I wake up and throw a pillow at Jayden. I get up out of bed, go over to his bed and yell, "Wake up little brother!" He groans and smacks a pillow at me. "Harsh. Luckily for you, I'm in a very good mood. If not, I would have to," I start tickling him, "tickle you to death!" "No! Stop! Stop! Please!" He begs, out of breath. I laugh and pull out my clothes for the day, which I will put on after the work is over. untitled_11/set?id=174887202. I keep my PJs on for the transformation, as I don't want nice clothing to be wrecked. I went into the bathroom and pulled out my hair-coloring bag. It had everything from bleach to hair dye to hair chalk in hundreds of colors. I think coloring my hair makes me even more unique, and now that I am... Dead... I need all the uniqueness I can get. I hop into the shower and feel the warm water on my back. One thing about being dead is that I feel things so much more. Everything's heightened. I get out of the shower and get dressed in sweats and a top. I pull out purple hair chalk and start putting it in.

"C'mon, Car! You're taking forever!" Jay whines. "I'm done," I say as I leave the bathroom and put my hair up. "It's purple." "No shit, Sherlock." He laughs and says, "like those mysterious eyes of yours." I forgot about that. I need to find out what he's hiding before we leave. "Since you've been begging to watch the transitions for the past two weeks, you can watch this one time." "Seriously?" I nod. He holds in his excitement poorly and says, "Cool." I rolls eyes and leave the room, hearing him jump for joy in the room. We both have been sleeping on small cots. Luckily Alex makes the exception of running water for the showers. "Morning, Carmen," "Good morning," I yawn and put the kettle on the grill in the fire. I stand up and go over to Alex. "Tell me." "Tell you what?" I grab his throat, push him against the table and yell, "What are you hiding from me?!" "Carmen!" Jayden yells as he comes downstairs. I let go of Hos throat and say, "Sorry, I don't know what came over me." Alex nods and says, "hey, it's ok, I get it. The anger can boil up inside of you at extreme rates, and now all that's heightened. I understand that sometimes you can't control yourself." I nod. He grabs the kettle and makes me coffee. "How did Esther even get in contact with you?" I ask. "I can't talk about any of this, Carmen. She is threatening my life and I don't particularly want to die." I then hear something from about a mile away. "Get upstairs, both of you," I order. "What are you talking about?" Jayden asks. "Whatever it is you hear, we can handle ourselves," Alex reassures. "I'm 'fraid you can't handle yourselves against an original hybrid. Upstairs, now!" I yell. They run upstairs and Niklaus asks, "Was that really necessary?" "Don't hurt them." "I don't give a lick about them but you, you I do. Come back to Mystic Falls, today," he orders. I haven't finished breaking the sire bond yet. I will have been by tonight. "What have you been doing, anyways?" "Quality time with my baby brother." I lie with a smile. I know that he knows I'm lying, so I might as well make it interesting. "Tell me the truth, Mariana," he orders, slamming me against the wall. As I'm about to respond, Alex runs downstairs and says, "Don't touch her," with a gun in his hand, pointed at Nik. "Alex, no," I plead. Nik smiles, turns around and says, "You seem to have made a very big mistake, _Alex."_ Klaus grabs the gun and shoves it in Alex's heart. I scream at the top of my lungs. "No," I whisper and then yell, "No!" I burst into tears. "Why is it that when I first saw you, all those months ago, you seemed amazing, and now, you're a monster?" I demand. He disappears. Jayden runs downstairs and sees Alex. "Oh my god." He then sees me on the ground and helps me up. "We- we need to burn the body." He looks at me funny and asks, "But why?" "There are a lot of things about me and our family that you don't, and _can't_ know, not yet at least. There are people out to find me, and you. We need to cover our tracks. I don't know how Klaus found us, but he did. Luckily, I didn't have time to answer his question. Bring the luggage downstairs, all right? I'll figure out what to do about Alex."

Jayden brings everything downstairs and I decide what we'll do with the body. "Take my hand," I order Jayden. I speed us to a river and Jayden sees that I already brought Alex here. "We'll have the proper funeral." I lift Alex up and put him on a board. He is wrapped in a bed sheet. I grab a bottle of bourbon and pour some on him. Jayden pushes the board into the water and further out. I pull him back further up shore and toss a lit lighter at the board. It lights on fire and I take a sip of bourbon. I put it down and feel something wet on my face. I touch it and realize I'm crying again. I sniff in and whips the tears away and say, "Come on, I need to finish doing what I came here for."

Jayden's POV:

We are in the cars driving back to Mystic Falls. She just finished transforming and for once, I didn't hear her piercing scream. I'm proud of her. For the past two weeks, I've hated the time of day when she had to turn. She did it one hundred times over each day and I hated how much it hurt her. I hate Klaus for it. I hate Rebekah for it. I am happy that she is free from that bastard's sire. But she has to pretend she is still sired for a while though.

"Good morning!" Carmen yells into my ear. "Go away, let me sleep!" I whine. "Wouldn't you like to do that in your own bed?" She says with a laugh. I open my eyes and see the time immediately. 6:30am. I then see that I fell asleep in the car last night when we were driving home. I get up and bring my suitcases in. Carmen gets a call and leaves to answer it. A few minutes later I am in the basement putting the laundry in the machine and then hopping on the treadmill. Carmen walks downstairs and puts her laundry next to the machine for it to be washed later. "That was weird." "What?" I ask while stopping the treadmill and walking through the back door of the basement. cgi/set?id=174943345

We start running outside and she says, "I just got a call but there was no answer, just silence until the star spangled banner came on... It was weird." She then gets another call and insists, "I know I didn't tell you where I'd be, Damon, but I had a good reason!" There is a pause for Damon to speak. "What?" She asks Damon. "Mason Lockwood? That's not possible. You killed him, Damon!"

Carmen's POV:

"Remember when Tyler slipped on words and revealed that you are somehow related to them? Yeah, well your dead relative just tied me up in my living room and tortured me. Talk about Deja Vu." "Mason Lockwood? That's not possible. You killed him, Damon!" "Well apparently not! And one off topic question - Where the hell have you been these two weeks?!" "I can't talk about it where there may be specific listeners that I don't want knowing. I'll tell you later. And trust me, it's a brilliant piece of news." I hang up and keep running with Jayden.

"I haven't seen Vicki, I swear. I sent her back like you told me to." "Are you sure? Because she has just as much reason to haunt Damon as Mason Lockwood does." "She's gone, bonnie. If she was here, I'd know it." I walk up and say, "Why are you so sure it is Vicki?" "Carmen! Jayden!" Caroline yells. She goes in for a giant hug but I step back and say, "I wouldn't. We're a bit, sweaty…" "If any other ghost other than Vicki Donovan has a physical foothold on our side, then that means Damon is right and something has gone really, really, wrong." "Um, bonnie?" Jayden asks. "Yea?" "What if I told you that our werewolf brother who despises all vampires just tried to come in contact with us?" I look at him, shocked that he figured that out before I did. "Then that would be very bad." "Listen, I've had enough of this ghost stuff to last forever, so you guys can leave me out of this one." "I feel so sad for him. It took a lot for him to send his sister away," Caroline says. Then I hear Stefan come up behind me and say, "Why have you been avoiding Klaus?" "Throwing my phone out the window after seven missed calls isn't avoiding," I say. He chuckles, "Hm, well, that's what Klaus calls it, and he would really love it if you-" "Stefan don't." I interrupt. "He would love it if you stopped avoiding him and called him back." Then he disappears. Caroline looks at me funny and whispers, "Why aren't you immediately jumping to use one of our phones because of the sire thingy…" I take Jayden's phone and text Caroline: _I broke it._ "You what?" Caroline yells. "Shut up, Care!" I playfully slap her arm. "Sorry, it's just, how?" "I can't really talk about it, at least, not here, not now. It's _very_ valuable information."

We, minus Jayden who has soccer, are where Bonnie brought Jeremy back to life, trying to figure out why her grimoire wants her to perform a manifestation spell. Bonnie starts chanting and Caroline is still talking so I silently shush her. "Bonnie, I don't like this," Caroline whines. "Bonnie…" "She needs her concentration, Care," I inform her. Then, Bonnie's Grams shows up. "Oh my god, is that your…" Caroline starts. "Grams?" Bonnie asks. _Get away from her. She knows about Annalisa trying to kill you. She may not be on our side._ Mariana warns me. I slowly back away. Bonnie starts crying, "I- I cant believe you're here." "Now, stop your crying, we don't have time for tears. Nice to see you again, Caroline. It's all right, Ma- Carmen. I'm not my ancestor." I nod, still not trusting her. Caroline gives me a perplexed look and then immediately understands, as I told her and all the others about my past life, not going into any detail, as I didn't want them to question my intentions. "A fine mess you've made, honey. The witches told you there'd be consequences to bringing Jeremy back and you did it anyway." "I didn't have a choice. I love him and I- I couldn't just let him go." "I understand. But you cracked open the door to the other side. There's an old witch over here. She took advantage of it. She took advantage of you, honey." "No," I say, knowing immediately whom she was talking about. "Please tell me she didn't." She only nods and continues talking. "When you did that spell to send Vicki Donovan away, she wedged the door wide open, giving a free pass to anybody with unfinished business." "How do you know this?" Bonnie asks. "Witches talk, even on the other side. Who do you think makes all the rules?" "What does the witch want?" "That's original vampire business, not yours. Although, it is your friends." Sheila looks at me. "What is she talking about, Carmen?" "Who do you think this family I told you about was, Bonnie? It was the Originals. And the person I fell in love with? It was Klaus." Caroline and Bonnie both give me astonished looks. "Bonnie, I don't want you getting in the middle of that. Carmen, please do everything you can to keep her out." I nod. They talk some more and I leave, deciding I need a drink. I go up to the bar and sit next to _Mason?!_ "One of you will pay for this right? Cheers," He says. "It doesn't work unless you've got the accent, Mase." He immediately turns around and sees me. I look around to make sure nobody is watching and grab his throat and ask, "Now why don't you tell me how the hell we're related, _Mase._ " "You need to brush up on your interrogation skills, Car. Here there are too many people to put them in a chokehold. You need to use your supplies," Damon informs with a smirk. I smile, speed to grab a fork from next to me and shove it in his hand. He lets out a gasp of pain and says, "You're my dead sister's kid, alright?" "What?" "You were adopted into another Alpha's family, Mariana. The people who raised you couldn't know about your past. And boy do you have your mom's temper." I take the fork out and say, "Well now I have somebody to blame it on. Sorry," I apologize for stabbing him with a fork. "I- I need to go." I get up and walk towards the door but am stopped by a man who appears out of nowhere. Mason is back to talking with Damon so I am alone. "Oh my god." The man smiles his usual goofy smile. "Ryland!" I exclaim, engulfing him in a hug. "Hey, baby sister."

"Oh my god." The man smiles his usual goofy smile. "Ryland!" I exclaim, engulfing him in a hug. "Hey, baby sister." "Why are you- what are you- How are you here?" I ask. "Well, I heard my baby sis was hanging out with vampires, so I decided to come back from the dead to kick their asses." I laugh and he says, "I missed you." "I missed you too." I get a call from Caroline and she tells me the necklace we need to send the ghosts back is missing and Elena caught Jeremy kissing Anna. "What?" I ask. "Yea." "I'm gonna kill that dimwit." I say jokingly. "Sorry if I'm late to join the party, Carmen." I turn around and see Francis and his vampires standing around him. "I've got to go, Care, I'll call you later." She tries to say something else but I hang up. "What do you want?" Ryland asks harshly. "To finish killing off the rest of your pathetic family," He says with me in a chokehold against the wall. Ryland tries to fight back but the other vampires attack him. "Don't worry, I've compelled everybody here so none of them will remember a thing." He tightens his grip on me. "You've missed a lot, sweetheart. I died," I say, switching our positions so I'm holding him up. "That's not possible." "I'm a hybrid, love - werewolf and vampire." He throws me across the room and speeds up to attack. I snap a leg of a table off and throw it at him. It pierces his stomach but he easily rips it out. "You're going to have to try a little harder than that if you want to kill me." I flash up to him and try to get to his heart but he pulls my arm and flips me over. I land on my head and feel blood seeping out the back. I get angry, really angry. I get a feeling inside me that I've never felt before. It is an amazing feeling. The feeling is… power. "Ah!" I yell and Francis is thrown across the entire Grill. Francis slowly recovers and when he does, he speeds over to me and pins me against the wall. "The only time I've ever seen that happen is rom a witch. So what the hell are you?" Before I can answer, Ryland pulls out Francis's heart. I look over to see twelve dead vampires on the ground. "How the hell did you do that?" He asks. "It's in her blood." I see a woman in her mid thirties walking towards us. She comes over and touches my face lovingly. "Mariana," She says with a smile. "Mom?" I ask, realization and recognition setting in. "Mom?" I ask, realization and recognition setting in. "What?" Ryland asks, confused.

Flashback

 _I am at the pond with Ryland, throwing rocks, laughing at his horrendous jokes. I love it. I am four years old and Ryland is ten. I hear a rustle in the trees and decide to explore. I see an injured woman and run up to her. "Pardon me, are you all right?" I ask. She has a big booboo on her left ankle and there is blood everywhere. "I'm fine, darling. I was running and scraped myself, that's all." She says in an American accent. "What were you running from, may I ask?" She sighs and says, "Life, I suppose. What's your name?" "Carmen, and you?" "I'm Ally." "Well, Ally, would you like me to bring my father to help your foot?" "I'll be fine, thank you." We start talking and talking about the most random things and have loads of fun talking about them. Eventually, I know we must depart so I say, "I had fun speaking with you, Ally. Thank you for taking with me, not many people waste their time to do so." "Well that's silly, you are so fun to talk to!" "Really?" I ask. "Of course!" "I'll see you soon, then?" She just nods and I see tears in her eyes and get confused as to why she is crying. "Goodbye," I say and return to my brother._

I show him the memory and all I can do is ask my birth mother, "Why?" "Before you were born, I had married an Alpha of a northern pack but fallen in love with another man, your father. I kept it hidden well but that changed when I gave birth to you. Your father said that he had gotten a message from Esther, saying that we couldn't keep you because we knew too much about the Originals, vampires, witches, and all of it. I decided to send you to another pack out of the country, Ryland's pack. Your father wanted to send you to witches, since he was one." "My father was a witch? Does that mean I'm a witch?" "I don't know. As I was saying, your father got mad at me but, after a while, he agreed. I was in England because I was desperate to meet you." I nod, taking it all in. "How did you die?" I ask. "I was in wolf form and a hunter shot me." I get up from my seat and hug them both. Just like that, they disappear. I let a few tears drop and find myself balling my eyes out.


	8. 8 Let's Make A Deal With The Devil

We go at Ric's flat after they finished taking pictures of the etchings in the cave. I know more than any of these stupid etchings but I won't tell them. I can't. I won't betray them like that. They're my family. Elena is sparring with Damon as Ric and I are trying to figure out the etchings. Well, I'm not trying; he sure as hell is though. Elena goes off to find Rebekah, who won't be of any use, and Damon goes off to… be Damon. "You know more than you're letting on, Carmen." Ric tells me once we're alone. "Why do you say that?" "Because of something you sure are lucky I didn't show Damon and Elena." He pulls out a picture of Mariana in Runic. "Ric, I- I wasn't there when they etched their names, but I was there one hundred years later when they had me write mine. Kol showed me the cave and saw that some people had etched drawings of their family. He just laughed and assumed it was inaccurate. He wasn't even a bit curious so I didn't think much of it." "You lied when you told Elena you didn't know much anymore. You know what everything means, don't you?" I nod. "Why lie? Why protect them? Klaus killed you, Carmen. Why are you so loyal to them?" "Because, Niklaus made a mistake. Kol, Rebekah, Elijah, Finn, none of them crossed me, and none of them ever will, at least not as much as he did. I should have expected what Niklaus did. He was making a scene. It's what he does." "What, so you're just going to say no relationship is perfect and move on? That's not ok, Carmen. He doesn't deserve your forgiveness. You deserve better than that." Just then, Elena walks in. "I've got this, Damon. If we can figure out a way to kill Klaus, Stefan will be free of his compulsion. So how does he look?" Elena asks through the phone. I listen in on the conversation. "Mmm. Pasty and pouty," Damon replies. "He'll have to get over it. Call me later," Elena says as she hangs up. They start talking about Rebekah _coming around_. Then Elena gets a text from Rebekah telling her to come over to talk. "She's a vampire who's joined the cheerleading squad, Ric. There's a whole different set of rules here," Elena is about to walk out the door before Ric glances at me and I say, "Wait- I'm coming."

We walk into the Salvatores' and I immediately walk over to Rebekah and she hands me a drink before saying, "Hey, what's up?" "You invited me over to talk," Elena says, as I sit on the couch. "All right girls, have at it," Rebekah says. 6 girls walk out and Rebekah asks them to twirl. I start cracking up and I say in between breaths, "You stole my trick, Bex." Elena and Rebekah talk and Rebekah asks which one Elena likes. "Red!" I blurt. "Heh. I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want us to wake up Mikael." Rebekah speeds over threateningly close to one of the girl's necks. "Bekah…" I warn. "Pick one, Elena." "The red one," She stutters. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it? Go away, remember nothing," Rebekah compels them. She walks over to Elena and says, "You do not threaten me. You will learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?" Elena nods. I get bored of the chatting and lean into Rebekah's ear and say, "Don't be stupid, Bex. Don't hurt the doppelganger." I leave and head back to Ric's place. I walk in to Ric telling Bonnie, "So, I've been staring at this image all day, wondering why it looked so familiar… and I was right." Ric holds up an etching of Esther's necklace next to the real necklace, to compare the two. "It's the same design." When I see the necklace I immediately back away. Bonnie turns around and asks, "What's wrong?" "Put that bloody murder device away," I order. "What? The necklace? Carmen, what's wrong?" Bonnie asks as I feel a migraine. "Put it away!" I yell. Bonnie puts it in her purse and the headache goes away. "Bonnie," I start, "I think I'm a witch."

"A witch? Carmen, what are you talking about?" "Illumination night, when the ghosts came, I got a visit from my mum- my _birth_ mum. She told me a lot about how she and my dad died, among other things. My birth father was a witch. Have you ever heard of the Carter bloodline?" "Yea. In history, the Bennett line has crossed paths with the Carter line, but I thought their line was dead." "That is what everybody was supposed to think. But Carter didn't cross paths with Duval until I came along. Would it be weird if I told you that Mariana had a brother? Jayden and I aren't biologically related in this life, but my brother from my past life, Percy, just happens to look identical to Jayden. I think that they are the same people because a little while ago, Jayden received a dream from Esther, and she called him Percy. But I hope he isn't. Percy died on his sixteenth birthday from somebody from our pack accidently killing him while in wolf form." "But what does that mean for Jayden? Does that mean that he's gonna…" She stopped talking. "Percy was killed on his sixteenth birthday. Oh my god." "What?" "So was Henrik." "Is it a coincidence?" Ric asks, joining the conversation. "No. It's revenge." I say, starting to walk out as Bonnie calls to me, "Where are you going?" I turn around briefly and say, "My pack killed Henrik, and tomorrow is Jayden's birthday." I then flash out.

 _Flashback_

 _I sit up, wipe my eyes, and look out the window to see a big pond and many cabins. I swing my legs over the bed and stand up. I get dressed and leave my bedchamber. I see Percy and Mother at the table. Father is away, probably cavorting with strumpets. He hasn't been home for months. It is very hard on my family. I see Ada, my servant and good friend. I go up to her and quietly ask, "How is my mother acting today?" "She is trying her best to keep her composure because of this special occasion, but is constantly getting angry with the servers. I fret for their lives at this point…" She says with a smile, trying to lighten the mood with a bit of joking. It isn't working though… I go and sit down across from Percy and diagonal from Mother, as she is at the head. I put my hand over hers and ask, "How are you today, Mother?" I have asked her this and performed this certain gesture every morning for years now. She replies with, "Where is the food, Mariana?" "It is coming, Mother. Be patient." "Don't tell me to be patient! I want the food now!" She demands once more, slamming her hands against the table. She winces in pain, not realizing how hard she hit her hand. Ada comes over and gives us all food. "Thank you, Ada," I say. She nods and leaves. My mother has no patience once so ever. She isn't your regular angry adult, her anger is much more… severe. But sometimes she finds a person that she bonds with, like Ada. But Mother hates Percy and I. I'm sure deep down she loves us, but she never shows it. Father thinks of Mother as a lost cause. That is why he is never home. He believes prostitutes make better company than Mother. "Blah! This food is disgusting. Find Ada!" She yells. Ada scurries over and asks, "What seems to be the issue, sweetheart?" "The cook has done a poor job, like always. Would you please tell them to make something better than this ill-tasting pottage?" She nods and walks away. "Well, happy birthday, brother." He smiles at me. Even after Mother ruining breakfast, he still has that wonderful smile on his face. I don't know how he does it._

 _The day goes on slowly and it is time for us to turn. We join the pack and Percy stays inside, as he didn't trigger the curse yet. My pack is all in wolf form. I hear Percy yelling my name as he is running towards where I am. "Mariana! Mariana! Turn around!" I quickly do so and see a wolf I do not recognize. I growl and he growls back. I get into a defensive position in front of Percy, as he is now near me. The wolf strikes at me, pulling me aside. I vaguely see Percy being pounced on by Arthur, a wolf in my pack. I see my mother watching from a distance, too afraid to do anything. I try to get up, but am held down by the other wolf. Eventually, I push the wolf off of me. I dash over to Percy and see a lifeless body before me, and no wolf in sight. I start to howl and my mother approaches me. I growl angrily and she whimpers, letting me know that she couldn't help me. I roar at her and pounce. I try to nip her but she shoves me off. I then start running into the woods. I run as fast as I possibly can, not knowing what just happened. I am confused, hurt, and scared. I just saw my brother die; I should be with him, grieving, not running._

 _I find myself in human form in the middle of nowhere. I hear a piercing scream and then a body dropping. Vampire. I start running towards the mansion that has suddenly appeared 100 meters away. I turn my head to see if the vampire is following me. He isn't, so I turn around and crash into a hard chest. I look up to see a man with dirty blonde hair with blood dripping from his mouth. He looks into my eyes and says, "Hello love, I'm Niklaus."_

I slam the door to my house and walk to the bar. I take a bottle of bourbon and start chugging it down. Jayden slowly creeps down the stairs and asks, "Hey, is everything ok? I haven't seen you all day." I throw the bottle against the wall and Jayden asks, "What the hell, Carmen?!" I look into his eyes and see something, he knows why I'm upset; but how? "Don't pull that bullshit with me, Jayden; I know you know." I hear his heartbeat pick up. "Well then is it true? Am I going to die tomorrow?" I immediately hear someone running up to the front door. Mikael. I bare my fangs. "Oh, Niklaus turned you into an abomination, just like him? How sweet is that?" "You can't get in." This is déjà vu of last year and of when Percy was killed. "How the hell are you here, anyways?" "Details, details, that isn't important. What's important is that you still love Klaus, as I am told by Katerina." I gulp and Jayden gives me a look saying, _what the hell? You still love him?_ "Whether or not I still have feelings for him is none of your damn business. What are you here for?" "I am going to kill Klaus, and you are going to help me." I scoff. "And why would I do that?" "You have a choice here, either help me kill Klaus, or I kill Jayden."


	9. 9 Prayer For The Dying

"You can't kill him, you aren't invited in this house." "Well I can kill the owner, unless you two plan on staying in this house forever?" I am about to pounce, but Jay holds me back. "Careful, Mariana, don't do anything you'll regret," He says, pulling out a sharp wooden stake. He smirks and slowly walks away. "Fine." I can just feel him cockily smiling, even though his back is facing me. He turns around and says, "Give me your word." "I give you my word that I will help you kill Klaus _if_ you make sure that my brother lives past his birthday, and protect him in any way possible when you are in this town." "Those are many demands, Mariana." "You ask for a lot from me, I will do the same in return," I say with a smile. "I give you my word," He says. "And just to let you know," I start, whilst walking closer to the doorway, "A man's word defines who he is as a person. It is his pride. Don't break your promise to me, Mikael." He nods, surprisingly willingly. "Then, to complete your task… you may come in." He steps inside and smiles. "I'm glad we're on the same page." I tell him about how Percy died and he reassures me that it won't happen to Jayden.

I am walking to the Salvatore house, looking for Rebekah. I see Elena's car leaving the driveway and hear Rebekah crying. I immediately flash next to her and ask, "What's wrong, Bekah?" "He killed her." "What?" "Niklaus killed Esther." "Oh my god." I can't even process or understand what Rebekah must be feeling. I know the feeling of being lied to and betrayed, but never to this extreme. I sit down next to her and pull her close to me. She sobs into my shoulder and I rub her back. "It's ok, Rebekah. We'll fix this. He will pay," I say, meaning that more intensely that Rebekah realizes. He will pay, whether I like it or not. I will always choose me brother over anybody else, even the man I love, or, used to love. I don't even know at this point.

 _I am at the Gilbert house doorstep. "Kol!" I yell. I scream at the top of my lungs and crouch down into a little ball saying, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no NO!" I say it over and over again. I know someone is beside me, threatening the people inside the house, but my dream wont let me see any of that. I can only feel pain. Whatever is going on, this is a bigger reaction than I had when my family died, so it must be big…_

 _cgi/set?id=176385386_

I wake up crying and screaming with Tyler and Jayden next to me, shaking me, trying to make me get up. "Carmen! Carmen! What's wrong? Are you ok?" Tyler asks. Why is Tyler here? Oh my god. I haven't told Tyler _anything_. I asked everybody to not tell him everything because I didn't want to get him involved, but it's a little late now… I don't say anything. I just get up, walk over to my bathroom and slam the door. I lean against it and fall to the ground. I squeeze my knees and rock back and forth. After composing myself, I leave the bathroom, let out a deep breath, and say, "Just… a bad dream. That's all. Why are you here?" "I called him. When I find my sister screaming at the top of her lungs while fast asleep, I call somebody," Jayden says. I then hear someone, a vampire, downstairs. "Tyler, I really appreciate it, but as I said, it's nothing. I- uh, I need to talk to Jayden, though." "I can't leave until I know your safe. Partially because I am worried and partially because Klaus told me I couldn't." Mikael speeds in and snaps Tyler's neck and says, "Well isn't that unfortunate." We talk more with Mikael and devise a plan. Tonight's a full moon, but there are no wolves out. Mikael is going to compel somebody to lock Jayden up in the Lockwood Cellar, where he'll be safe while we are killing Klaus.

An hour later, I am at the Salvatore house devising a plan to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls. "If you're lying to me, Stefan, your compulsion will expose you; so answer with your life. Is what you're saying the truth?" Klaus asks. Stefan is telling him that Mikael is dead and Klaus needs to come back to see it. "It's true. I saw it with my own eyes." "I want to talk to Mariana." _I cannot believe I'm doing this, Carmen. Mariana would never do this._ Yea, well Mariana didn't have a  living brother to protect. _This isn't protection, Carmen; it's being a coward. You're too scared to fight, so you help the enemy kill your love, so Jayden is protected. A real sister protects him herself._ "That's not a problem. She's right here," Stefan answers as he hands the phone to me. "Hello, Niklaus." "What's this I hear about Mikael's tragic run-in with a dagger?" He asks. I look at Mikael's dead body and then at Elena. She nods and I say, "It's true, Niklaus. Rebekah is overjoyed, as am I. The bastard is finally dead. Now come home, Nik. Mystic Falls is dreary without you." We hang up and I give the phone back to Stefan. "He bought it. He's coming home." I then flash out. I am with Bonnie. "Hey," She says, seeing me. We are at her house. "Can we talk about what happened at Ric's flat?" She nods and we decide to go to a café in Town Square. "You think you're a witch?" Bonnie asks after we're seated. I nod. "Last night, and every night for the past few weeks, I have had one dream. Last night I woke up crying from it. All I know is that I am screaming and crying from it and saying one word – Kol." I decide, since right now she is the best friend out of everybody here (besides Jeremy, who I've already confessed everything to) to tell her everything that I haven't told pretty much everyone else. I rant on about all my dreams and go into full detail. I then tell her about when Maddox knocked me out and what happened. It takes two hours to do so. We decide to go back to her place. We are sitting in her living room with a dying flower in front of me. It used to be healthy, and then I tried to make it grow faster, and ended up making it start to die. "Just focus and say, _Phasmatos Tribum, Plantus Vivifey, Plantus Herbus."_ This spell revives plants. I took in a deep breath, closed my eyes, and then let it out. "Phasmatos Tribum, Plantus Vivifey, Plantus Herbus." I open my eyes and see the still dyeing flower. "Ugh! I can't do this! I give up!" I say, slamming my hands on the table. I put my head in my hands and breathe deeply, trying to calm myself. "Carmen?" Bonnie asks. "What?" I ask annoyed. I look up and see a fully revived and blossoming flower. I smile and laugh out of pure happiness, as does Bonnie. She grabs a candle and says, "Never mind the incantation, just… will it to light. I nod and cup my hands around the candle. I think about happy things, like back in England with my family – laughing, playing, and fooling around. I then think about a candle that is lit. I picture in my mind a candle being lit. I then open my eyes and see that it was lit, as was the fire in the fireplace. We smile at each other and she says, "Now put the fire out." I look at the fire for a few seconds and then close my eyes. I think about happy times and then about a fire going out. I open my eyes and see that the lights have gone out, along with the fire. "That's odd. There's no storm, why did the lights go out?" "That was you, Carmen." "Oh my god…" I say, shocked. She nods in agreement. We spend a little while longer on this and then I see the time. "We best be going to Elena's house," I announce. In the car, I say, "Thank you Bonnie, for all of this. I don't know what's going on, but thank you for helping me." She nods and says, "It's good that you told somebody about _everything_ , and I'm glad it was me. We are going to find out who did it."

We are at Elena's house and I'm with Jeremy and Bonnie is with Elena. I am sitting on the couch watching reruns of the game last Thursday between the Steelers and the Patriots. "You know their talking about you, right?" I ask Jeremy as he brings two sandwiches over. "I messed up, Carmen. Aren't you supposed to be the best friend who says that it isn't that bad?" "No. I'm supposed to be the best friend that constantly reminds you the mistake that you made and how you are supposed to get your ass off the couch and fix it!" "You're criticizing me about _my_ love life? Like yours is perfect? You are trying to  kill your lover." That went to far. "You want to know why I'm trying to kill him?" I screamed. "Because if I don't, Mikael will kill Jayden, and I will never put **anybody** before my brother."

"Hey, can you hand me the glitter gun?" Caroline asks Tyler. We are at the school getting ready for homecoming. Caroline and Tyler are decorating a big car very… colorfully, to say the least. "Thanks." Tyler sees me and gives me a look asking what's up. I mouth nothing back to him. I know I'm lying; he knows I'm lying; hell, Caroline probably knows I'm lying. We cover it up though, because causing an infamous Lockwood Family Argument won't help any. I haven't told Tyler how I broke the sire bond yet, because Klaus dying should break it. I walk over to Melissa; I think that's her name… She's a freak about history so I compel her, "Go to my house and get my brother, Jayden. Then bring him to the Lockwood Cellar and Lock him up. Don't let anybody get in your way." I give her my address and she obeys.

cgi/set?id=176392396 The dance was canceled because the gym flooded, probably of Klaus's doing. Tyler is moving the party to his house. I walk to the front and a hybrid immediately stops me and says, "Who are you?" "You have five seconds to move before yet another person is added to the list of people who died at the Lockwood house," I say, flashing my teeth. He immediately lets me in, partially because I'm a hybrid and partially because he was about to piss his pants. I walk in and immediately smell many more hybrids. I ignore it and go to find Bonnie and Elena. I find Elena and sense something off about her. "Elena!" She scoffs. "You're friends with Elena now? Who would've known?" I am confused for a second before saying, "You are sneaky." I see Klaus and I immediately say in a shaky voice, "I'm going to go find the food." I walk over to Nik, which was right next to the food table. I fix myself up some food while saying, "You came back." "Of course I came back. You wanted me here. How could I refuse?" I stop what I'm doing and look at him. I look into his beautiful eyes that I fell in love with so many times. I then feel Katherine watching us so I immediately snap out of my trance. I go to walk away, knowing that I am forgetting my food but not caring, before Klaus grabs my arm and yanks me back into his grasp. "I think you're forgetting something, sweetheart," His warm breath travels down my neck, making me shiver. I can't take it anymore. I look into his eyes and immediately our lips collide. We hold that passionate kiss for longer than we probably should have and finally break away. I am confused as to what I just did. In the same day, I signed his death certificate and I think I've fallen in love with him. I immediately pull away from his grasp, feeling immensely guilty. I speedily walk away and back inside. I run upstairs to my old room, which is now the guest room, with some of my stuff still in it, and sit on the bed silently and stare off into space.

 _"I love you, Mariana," he tells me. Just hearing him say it for the first time makes me squeal with delight in my mind. "I love you too, Niklaus." I lean in and kiss him ever so passionately until he pulls away. "What's the matter?" I ask. "Nothing," He says, cupping my face. "I want this moment to last forever." I giggle at his sappiness. "Trust me, Nik. It will last longer if you stop talking and kiss me."_

"Carmen? Are you ok? Why are you in here?" I hear a voice ask. "Carmen?" My vision comes back and I see Tyler with a worried expression on his face. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine, I just needed a minute." "You kissed him." I look at him funny and ask, "Who told you?" "Nobody. Practically everybody saw it. You were kissing for like ten minutes." I laugh and then remember something. "You could've told me." "What?" He asks, confused. "You could have told me I am a Lockwood. And that you are my cousin." "Who-" "That doesn't matter." "I didn't tell you because my dad said I couldn't tell you. I didn't have a choice in the matter." I nod. "We can talk about this later. I need to get downstairs." "Wait, why?" "I need to fix what happened. I kissed him. I shouldn't have," I lied. Kissing him, for some reason, didn't feel like a mistake at all.

I go out and see Klaus playing beer pong surrounded by hybrids. He still doesn't know that I broke the curse, so I must be careful around him. "You have a visitor," one of the hybrids, Mindy, says. "Well, tell my visitor I'm on the brink of victory here." "He said his name was Mikael." I immediately rush out and ask Mikael, who is standing at the doorstep, "What aren't you coming in?" "I wasn't invited, if you recall the rules?" I turn and leave, while catching Nik's eye. I give him a scared look, even though I'm not. I watch from afar and see Mikael bring out "Elena" aka Katherine and threaten to kill her. Mikael stabs Katherine and Damon tackles Klaus and misses his heart the first stab, but before he can do it again, I rush and tackle Damon and Stefan throws him against the wall. "What the hell are you two doing?!" Damon demands. I step outside and see Mikael's burning body. "I told him that he would pay. I never break my word," I say, while standing next to Niklaus. He takes my hand and says, "I know it still hurts, Mariana. You lost probably the most important person in your life. I know it hurts." I let a tear drop. Damon probably heard that, so I have questioning to look foreword to, after he screams at me for saving Klaus… I immediately flash out and to the Lockwood Cellar. I see Jayden locked up, still breathing. "You're going to make it, Jayden," I say as I sit down next to him. "What happened? Is Klaus dead?" There is a moment of silence before he says, "Klaus is still alive, isn't he?" I nod. "I don't want to talk about that. I want this to be about you. I mean, you are surviving death, which is always fun…" I try to joke, but fail. I then see a werewolf bite mark start to form on his neck. He starts screaming in pain. "Jayden? Jayden, what's going on? Jayden!" I yell. A few bleeding bite marks start to form on his legs and arms. "No, no, no, this can't be happening! No!" I cry and scream, even though I know it won't help. "Jayden?" I croak out. "Jayden are you still there?" "I love you sis, don't- forget that. Goodbye." "No, don't say that, no! You can't die, please, please, please! You can't die!" I then hear silence. I hear the worst silence in the world. The silence when I hear my own heartbeat, but not Jayden's. The silence when I know that my brother is dead.


	10. 10 Little White Lies

"Jeremy?" I ask into my phone early in the morning. " _Hey, Carmen. What's wrong?"_ "Can you come down to the Lockwood Cellar, like, now?" I ask.

"Hello?" Jeremy asks as he walks down the steps. "Over here!" I yell, trying to hide the pain in my voice. "Hey what- Oh my god." He looks at Jayden's dead body. "Did you-" "No. Well, yes. Well, I don't think so. My ancestors are the cause of this." "You told me that what happened to Percy wasn't going to happen to Jayden." "That's what I thought." He lets out a deep breath and scoots closer to me. He engulfs me in a big, warm hug and I start sobbing again. "Hey, shh, it's alright, it's alright." We stay like this for a while until I say, "I have to get him cleaned up and prepped if he is to be buried." I start to get up but he says, "Hey, you can wait a little while longer." "No, Jer, I can't. I need to do this, and then I need to go find Stefan, and then I need to deal with a neurotic Klaus. Not to mention how upset Damon and Elena must be right now…" "Why would they be upset?" I sniff in and say, "Stefan and I… we saved Klaus from being killed. Stefan has a reason that could be explained – his freedom. I on the other hand, don't." "Yes you do." I give him an odd look. "You love him, Carmen. You saved him because you love him." "I know that, but somebody else saying it makes it feel actually real… Ugh, I hate this. Remind me why I came to this town again?" He laughs and I pick up the body. "See you soon?" I ask. He nods and I flash away. I bring Jayden somewhere that will hold him until the funeral I now have to plan, go home and get dressed in cgi/set?id=176456405I and go off to the Grill.

I immediately see Elena and Bonnie and sit down. "Guys, I am so sorry." "About what?" Elena and Bonnie ask in unison. "Damon didn't tell you." I paused and took a deep breath. "I helped Stefan save Klaus." "You what?" Elena demanded. "Listen, I know I made a mistake but I couldn't help it. It was like my mind wanted to do one thing but my body wanted to do another. I didn't want to, I swear. I just, had to." "I understand that but do you realize the sacrifice you made? You are putting your friends in danger, along with Jayden," Elena says. My face immediately hardens. "What?" she asks. I turn to Bonnie. "It worked. Esther got her revenge. Jayden is dead," I say it so blankly that I don't even recognize my own voice. "Oh my god," They both say. "I am so sorry, Carmen," Elena says. "Everybody is dead. There is nobody left. I have one psycho aunt who is money obsessed, and I have Tyler and Carol. But Tyler doesn't feel like my family. He just feels like the friend I have known since I was a baby. I know that you guys are still mad at me. You have every right to be. I want to help, I really do, but when it comes to Klaus, I just can't kill him. No matter how awful he is, I can't kill him. You don't understand how strong our relationship is. I met him when I was 16, and died when I was 24. When you spend 9 years with somebody you loved since day 1, your bond grows stronger than you could ever believe." "I'm a little bit disappointed, but not mad. I understand," Elena says, which Bonnie agrees with. I look at the time and glance at Bonnie. "Car and I have to go, we have some stuff we have to do." She is an awful liar. Elena looks between the two of us. "What kind of stuff?" "Channeling my inner nerd, I am going to help Bonnie with a French essay. I know way more about French history than the normal teenage hybrid that was reborn should. C'mon, we best be going, Bonnie!" I tell her. We say goodbye and walk away. Bonnie asks me, "Where did you learn how to act like that?" "Raw talent, I suppose?" The entire car ride over Bonnie has been telling me that I shouldn't be involved, and I should be grieving over my brother. I don't think I should. My brother was just killed by the woman who brought us both back to life. I don't know what is going on, but I don't want to grieve about all whom I've lost. I want to get revenge.

We walk into the freaky witch mansion and as soon as I go in, I hear whispering. "The Hybrid," I hear them say. "No, she is a witch, I can feel it," another argues. "This is just like in my dream…" Bonnie says. We follow the creepy voices downstairs. We are looking around when somebody says, "Hello there." "Stefan," we say in unison. "You followed us here?" I ask. "Yeah. It wasn't too hard. You should probably be more careful," He responds. "What do you want with us?" Bonnie asks. 'Relax. I just need your help." "Why would we help you? Elena said you saved Klaus' life." "Well so did Carmen here, but she isn't getting any punishment?" "She had a good reason. That reason is not something I like to admit, but you of all people should know what love can make you do." "Hm," he grunted, "Let me fill you in on a little secret about Klaus. He kept his family with him at all times, daggered, stored in coffins. And now, I have them. And I need you to help keep them hidden," He tells Bonnie. I hid my anger. I swear to god if he hurts Kol in any way I will kill him, and everybody in this goddamn town. "You're out of your mind, Stefan. You're just going to make him angrier," I say. "His family is his one weakness. As long as I have that, I can ruin him. "I don't have enough power to hide 4 originals," Bonnie says. "I do," I say. "What?" Stefan asks. "I've done my research. My witchy woo ancestors were just as powerful as yours. We can hide them." "Since when were you a witch?" "Since I suppose Esther didn't realize that she put a werewolf into a witches body. You can't tell anybody, Stefan. No one can know until I am ready to tell them all." He nods.

Tyler's POV:

Jeremy hands me a glass and I say, "Thanks." "This is weird. Klaus has hybrids stalking me, and now, you're just sitting in our kitchen." "Look, maybe I should go." "No, stay. You're not doing anything." "Unless you have to, you know, check in with your hybrid master." I chuckle. "It's not like that, Elena." "Tell me, Tyler-" Ric starts, "What is the difference between being sired and being compelled?" "Compulsion… That's just mind control, like hypnosis. And being sired is- it's like faith. You do something because you believe it's the right thing." "So, you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing." "I don't serve him. Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that." This is getting annoying… "What if he asked you to… jump off a bridge?" "He wouldn't. And even if he did, I'd be fine. I'm a hybrid." "Ok, so what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?" "Again, he wouldn't." "What if he did?" "I don't know. Then I'd rip out my heart! You guys sound like Caroline, getting all freaked out over something you don't understand." "You're right, Tyler. I don't understand. Klaus has terrorized every single one of us, and you're just blindly loyalty to him. How come you haven't broken the bond like Carmen did?" She yells. "Carmen broke her sire bond?" I saw Jeremy glare at her angrily for what she just said. "Answer me!" "Yes, she did. Why do you think she was gone all that time?" I decide to leave the fact that my cousin has been lying to me for so long for another conversation. I sigh, "You are overthinking this. I can still make my own decisions."

Carmen's POV:

I get a text from Jeremy. _Tyler knows you broke it. Elena told him._ Damn it. He is going to kill me. I go to find where the coffins are while Bonnie and Stefan talk. I know they're here. I can feel strong presence. I find the coffins and immediately go over to Kol's. _Don't open it, Carmen. You won't be able to stop yourself from pulling out the dagger and running away. Back away from the coffin._ No matter how much I want to open it, Mariana wont let me. She has some control over this body. When Esther comes, she will fix this alter ego thing, I hope. I obey and go back to where Stefan is. Bonnie has left so it is just the two of us. I pull out a candle from my bag… Yes, I have a candle in my bag; it's for practice. I place it in front of me and immediately it, and every other candle in here, burst into flame. I then get a pain in my head. Esther.

 _I am in the same field as I always am, and Esther is in the same old clothing that she is always in. "You've got some nerve summoning me after you killed my brother," I snap. "Hm, sorry to disappoint you, but it wasn't my fault that your brother died." "What?" I ask. "If you had been a smart sister and let him transform that night, he would've lived." I speed towards her with my fangs extended but with a swipe of her hand I am thrown aside and I awake._

"What the hell happened to you?" Stefan asks carelessly. "Jayden died because of me…" "What?" "If I had let him turn, then he would've been safe. The girl I compelled to lock him up told me that his idea was to turn, but I wouldn't allow it. I protected my brother from triggering his werewolf side, but in doing so, I let him die." I realize I'm crying so I sniff in and wipe the tears away. I hear somebody coming in. Stefan must've heard it too because he put is finger up to his lips and shushed me. "Stefan?" I hear Elena's voice say. The whispers get louder. "Go away," Stefan comes out from his and my hiding place. "You shouldn't be here, Elena

A little while later I am sitting inside the room with the coffins when I hear Damon and Stefan talking. "I'm in this alone, Damon." "You go after Klaus, you're going to have to be cutthroat and devious. I'm so much better at that than you." I smirk at their brotherly love and hatred all mixed together into one. I flash over to Caroline's house and knock on the door. "Caroline?" I call her name. She opens and says, "Hey, what are you doing here? Come in." We are sitting on the couch and I am telling her about how Jayden died and who Percy was, and realize that I am crying again. Ugh, I hate crying. I used to never cry, and now everything is so emotional, it sucks. Caroline promises me that she will plan the funeral and tries to comfort me as best she can.

Later on, I am at Klaus's house. I go inside and am immediately greeted by some friendly/deadly hybrids that immediately let me pass. I walk into the parlor with my sad, tearstained face and find Klaus drinking some liquor. He sees me and speeds up in front of me and asks in the sweetest voice, "What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" His eyes go murderous, ready kill anyone and everyone. "It's not that, it's- Jayden's dead. And it's all my fault."


	11. 11 The Departed

Be Still – The Fray

cgi/set?id=176399241

I walk into the funeral home with Jeremy right beside me and with Bonnie close behind. We take our seats with Tyler at the end and then Damon, Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, me, Jeremy, Stefan and Matt. I turn around and immediately see someone I hoped I wouldn't have to see ever again – my aunt. She gives me a warm smile but looking into her eyes, I see the hatred she is trying to mask. My aunt is a gold-digger. My uncle was _very_ successful so my aunt married him. She acted like she was in love, but faked it until the day he died. She even convinced him to put his entire multimillion-dollar will in her name. When I was famous, she treated me like royalty, but as soon as I came to Mystic Falls, and she didn't remember my fame, she called me to ask me who my mother's will was going to. When I told her it was going to me she swore and hung up. She was always rude. When Tyler came to visit, she, once finding out that he wasn't filthy rich, became uninterested and treated his family like rubbish.

The service drags on until it is time for speeches. Surprisingly, Carol goes up and after her sweet speech, it is my turn. I haven't cried yet, but I probably will now. I rise from my seat, take one look at Jeremy, who nods me on, and shakily walk up. I pull out the piece of paper. I take a deep breath and start.

"Jayden Steven Ash was a fifteen year old boy who had gone through hell. He never fit in. He never had friends. He had his twin sister, Arden, but when she died- It was unbearable for him. He and I grew closer, but I knew that he was still depressed. He had the world at his fingertips but was still miserable because he didn't have the one person that made him happy – Arden. She was the only one who made him laugh, and made him cry." I take a deep breath, trying not to break down." Nobody understood my brother like she did. I knew that Jayden was depressed, but I never knew how much he struggled. Looking back on our time together, I see that I probably-" I look down, "I probably could have done better as a sister. I could have noticed all of the signs he gave me that he was struggling. I was too caught up with my own life to see my brother regretting every second of his. Even though he struggled, he always seemed happy. In fact, he was always one to lighten the mood. I think he acted fine so much that he made himself believe he was. I remember-" my voice cracks, "all those nights that he would cry himself to sleep, just wanting his sister back, wanting to hear her contagious laugh and see her beautiful eyes. I know this because I wanted the same thing. I- I just wish I could have given it to him. Jayden deserved so much more than the life he got. I know that everybody that knew him feels the same way. Jayden was a good kid. I am able to sleep at night knowing that he has found his own version of peace and has been reunited with our family. Jayden will be missed, but I know that he will be happier now."

I walk back to my seat, holding in the tears. I sit down and Jeremy immediately grabs my hand. He squeezes it lovingly and tears start to silently drip down my face. Once the service is over, Jeremy goes off with Elena and Bonnie is talking with me. I see the she-devil approaching and nudge Bonnie to avoid her. Bonnie doesn't get the message so when my aunt approaches us Bonnie becomes all chatty and sweet. My aunt says, "Hello love, you must be one of Carmen's friends. I'm her aunt. Call me Lisa. What's your name?" "I'm Bonnie. Carmen never mentioned she had an aunt!" "Well she's not one to brag," She says with a chuckle. Bonnie awkwardly laughs along. "What are you doing here?" I ask Lisa. "I came for your brother's funeral, obviously," She says rudely. "Ok, well you saw it. Now you can leave," I spit back. Before she has the chance to say something back Tyler comes up to me and lightly pulls my arm, signaling for me to come. I walk away from the conversation and to the lobby with Tyler. "One of Klaus's hybrids was here earlier." "What?" "I know I shouldn't be bothering you with this, but I just thought you should know." "No, no, it's fine, thank you for telling me. I need to find out why…" "No, not right now. You need rest, Carmen. "Ugh, that reminds me. I have to pack up all of Jayden's stuff. I also should probably get the rest of my family's stuff and sell it or something instead of letting it rot in a storage locker-" "No, Carmen." Before Tyler continues, my aunt comes over and says, "I don't seem to have a place to stay and I am tight on money, I can stay at your place, right?" "Sure, I'll be sleeping elsewhere," I say with a smile. Tyler glares at me but I just walk off to my car. I slide in and just stay there, listening to Over My Head by The Fray. I see somebody coming towards my car and sticking his head through the passenger window. "Luke?" "I think you should've sung at the service, it would have been much more Jayden's style." I let out a laugh. "Style; as in funeral style? My brother had a funeral style?" He laughs. "It was a beautiful service, Carmen." "That's what everybody said last time. There's nothing creative these days…" He laughs again. "How long are you staying for?" "A few days. I hope you don't mind that my stuff is already at your house." I smirk. "I have to go, but I will see you later, ok? Make yourself at home, I guess. My aunt is staying there too, and she certainly will. Feel free to kick her out of any room you please," I suggest with a smirk. He laughs and goes to his car. He has to be careful that nobody recognizes him but I don't think Mystic Falls is a town that has a large population of fan girls…

I let out a deep sigh and then see something sticking out of the sunshield above the passenger seat. I pull it down and find a picture of Ryland holding Jayden and I holding Arden when they are about 4 months old. Jayden must have put it there. I gaze at each of my siblings' faces. I then get an idea. I put the picture back where it was and pull out of the large parking lot.

I go home, get changed into untitled/set?id=166350678, and soon after, pull into the Mikaelson driveway. I grab the picture, put it in my purse, and head inside. I see Niklaus talking to a hybrid. "You missed the funeral. It was brilliant." Niklaus turns around and says, "I'm sorry about your brother, Mariana. I didn't think that what happened to Percy could happen to Jayden." "I thought I was protecting him, Nik. I- I thought I was doing the right thing. I should have listened to him, he was right about what to do. If I had listened to him than he wouldn't be dead." My eyes start to water again. "Hey, it's alright, love." He speeds me to his bed and lets me snuggle up close to him. "Your speech was beautiful." I bury my head into his chest more and let the tears fall. He brushes my hair with his fingers and I start to sob. He pulls my body closer to his chest. We lie like this for about an hour until he takes his finger, softly pulls my chin up, and gently and soflty kisses my lips and I fall asleep.


	12. 12 Lights Out

3x11

I wake up in a warm and cozy bed. I roll over and see Niklaus peacefully asleep. It's odd seeing him in such a calm state. I turn around and see my phone placed on the nightstand so I pick it up and see that it is 6:30 a.m. I also see a text from Bonnie. I don't open it, knowing that it is about the coffins. I turn back over to face Niklaus and I snuggle up close to him. For once in too long, I had a dreamless sleep. Not one memory dream, warning dream, or any nightmares, just nothing. After a failed attempt at going back to sleep, I get up and go to Rebekah's room to find something to wear. I decide on untitled_27/set?id=176603004. I go downstairs and walk into the kitchen. I groan and say to myself, "There is no food in this bloody house." "No, but there is a hell of a lot of bourbon." I smirk at Nik's wit. "I've got a question," I say. "Can I have a look at your mother's grimoires?" "Why would you need it? You're not a witch," he responds. I stay silent. "Mariana…" " _Carmen_ 's birth father was a witch. I can do magic, Niklaus. Sure, I'm still learning, but I can do it." "That's impossible." "That's what I thought, but apparently not." I still see the look of doubt in his eyes. I then see Mindy walking by. I smirk and say, "Mindy, is it? Could you come here for a moment?" She walks over and says, "What is it-" "Vatos." A few tables and chairs immediately explode and quickly move towards her violently. She screams and falls to the floor, knocked out. I smirk. "Impressive. You didn't just kill my hybrid, did you?" I shrug. "Don't know, don't care." He laughs, a real laugh, and speeds away, quickly returning with two grimoires.

I am driving to my house quickly to get dressed in my own clothing since Rebekah's don't fit well. untitled/set?id=173974691 I then get my backpack and grab a blood bag from the fridge and leave. I pull into the school parking lot and see Tyler giving Caroline a charm bracelet for her birthday. I check my phone and see a text from Damon: _Found a hybrid outside of haunted house – killed him. Watch your back._ I sigh and get out of the car. I see Caroline twenty feet away and wave to her while yelling happy birthday, to which she smiles and thanks me. Tyler sees me and says, "When were you going to tell me that you broke the curse?" "I can't deal with this right now, Tyler. Please, just, leave this for another day." "This is important, Carmen!" He yells. "Why would you keep something like this from me?" "Oh, _I'm_ sorry, this seems to be so much worse than keeping the biggest secret _anybody_ could keep from somebody else – who their biological family are! I'm  so sorry if I offended you!" I screamed with an immense amount of anger and sarcasm in my voice. He didn't tell me that he was my cousin, and that my family wasn't my biological family, so I am going to call this a freebie. I'm ok with my family not being blood related to me, it just kind of hurts that I had been lied to. "You know what? Damn this." I turn away and speedily walk to my car. "Carmen!" He yells back. I ignore him and slam the door. I lock the doors and wait until Tyler hesitantly walks away, and then I pull a grimoire out from under the passenger seat. I start to read the spells and see that they are in many different languages. I then see one that catches my eye – a resurrection spell. What if I could resurrect my family, or at least my siblings? I would have them back. I wouldn't be alone anymore.

I walk into the woods and dart straight to the room with the coffins. I walk over to Elijah's and sit down at the end. I let out a deep sigh and say with a sarcastic voice, "Oh noble Elijah, please tell me what the bloody hell I've gotten myself into. I suppose I cannot bring myself to choose between my best friends and," I pause and smirk, "and the bastard I've fallen in love with. I remember the day I met you all. Kol did always make me a bit… jumpy." I then hear a ding. I pick up my phone and see a new text message from Matt. _Tyler bit Car; Klaus gave her his blood and apparently had a heart to heart with her. Just thought you should know._ I let out a deep breath and tell myself to think nothing of it. I then walk over to my bag and pull out a blanket and pillow. "I can't spend another night at my house, alone." I put a pillow onto the ground and wrap myself up in my blanket before lying down. I see that the candles are still on and smirk. I focus on one of them and whisper, "Lights out."


	13. 13 Human

Skip to 3x13

I am walking out of the Mikaelson mansion, towards my house. I open the front door and gaze at the depressing entryway. I need to sell this place. I can't live here, and sleep right next to my now dead brother's room. I can't go to the pantry and find my brother's stupid mint Oreos that he was so obsessed with. Most of all, I can't look at the fridge every morning and see all of the pictures of memories that I don't want to keep on it. I go over to a side table, pick it up and throw it across the room. I scream out in anger and start sobbing. I curl up into a little ball and cry my heart out. I scream once more and the glass in my hutch shatters, along with the window. I grab a pillow and hold it tight, trying to muffle my tears. When it doesn't work, I throw it across the room with all my strength and it knocks over a collection of flowers, and the water in the vases spills all over the floor, making me cry harder. The front door opens and Damon speeds in.

Damon's POV:

I speed in and see Carmen balling her eyes out on the living room floor. I quickly look around and notice the kitchen in shambles. I hunch over next to her and lovingly pull her close to me. She buries her head in my chest and I whisper, "Shh, it's ok. It's all going to be alright." A few minutes later I say, "You can't stay here any more, ok? You can stay with us or the Originals, I don't care, but I don't want you in this house anymore." She nods, not able to speak, and keeps crying. Eventually, she falls asleep and I speed her over to my house and lay her on the couch. I then race to where Bonnie is, trying to open the mystery coffin.

"Let's hope big witch and little witch got that coffin open," I say as we walk down the pathway. "Something's got to make this night worthwhile." We go farther down the pathway and see Bonnie on the floor unconscious, most likely due to whatever _was_ in that damned coffin. "Bonnie!' I whisper as Stefan runs over to her. "She's still breathing," Stefan says. "Mama's still breathing, I can hear her." "Coffin's open," Stefan says. "Well, not going to do us any good. Whatever's in it's gone."

Carmen's POV:

I wake up groggily on the couch and roll over, inevitably falling off it. I look at the clock and see that it is already 10:00. I speed back to my house and find about twenty workers there. I go up to one of them and ask, "Who the hell are you?" "Damon says you're welcome," The worker responds in a monotone voice. I laugh and see the people bringing all of my furniture out. "What would you like us to do with all of your furniture, ma'am?" "Store it for now. I'll come back to it and sell it all soon." He nods as I give him the storage locker address. I go inside and see that my personal belongings are still there. All they moved were the big stuff like couches and chairs, not what was left of the glassware, and the appliances. I called a girl in and said, "Just sell all of the appliances and knickknacks from downstairs, and notify everybody to not go in my room until I allow them to and don't go into my brother's room if they want to keep their heads." She nods and walks away. I grab an empty box, head up to my room, and start putting everything I want to keep from my room into it after I change. untitled_28/set?id=177613430. Once I am finished, I get my cell phone from my desk and see that I have a missed call from… Rebekah? I call and she immediately answers. _I never will understand these tiny telephones._ "Niklaus undaggered you?" _Not exactly… Come over as soon as you can_. All I can say is "Ok," before she hangs up. I speed over to Nik's house and let myself in. I go into the living room and I can't describe my immediate feelings no matter how hard I try.

Kol's POV:

I hear the front door open and immediately tense up. I then see a dead girl walk in. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" I ask my best friend after speeding over with watery eyes and engulfing her in a hug. She hugs me back tightly and rests her head in the crook of my neck, silently crying with joy. "Well would you look at that, adorable," Finn remarks. After a few minutes, I reluctantly let go and she walks over and hugs Finn.

 _Flashback_

 _I hear Niklaus as he opens the door and tells somebody, "This is Rebekah." "Hello, love," Bekah responds. "Hello, Rebekah," I hear a beautiful voiced girl say. I immediately rush to the scene unnoticed and creep behind her, whispering, "What's your name, darling?" I see goose bumps immediately appear as Rebekah says, "Quit it, Kol. I'm sorry, Mariana. It's who he is. There isn't a thing we can do about it, and trust me, we've tried." Mariana laughs adorably and turns around. Her eyes meet mine and she sarcastically says, "Hello, darling." I immediately am able to read her. She seems strong at first, but looking into her eyes, I see somebody in dire need of a friend, not somebody to be in love with. Niklaus can cuddle his beloved all he wants, but I am going to be the one who makes her laugh her ass off._

Carmen's POV:

I go over and hug Finn. I may not know him very well, but for as long as I had lived in the Mikaelson Manor all those centuries ago, I have always been curious as to whom he was. I always wanted to help him, and release him from his misery –Never able to, but always wanting to. I then hear footsteps behind me. I turn around and see Nik next to Esther. I don't move, afraid of what I'll do. I just stare at that witch bitch, with hatred in my eyes. "Mari-" She starts. "Save it," I immediately say. "We need to talk." ""Yea, we do. Except it may excel into more than talking," I threat. She focuses her mind and I start to get a migraine. I wince in pain and lunge at her. I pin her against the wall and bear my fangs but she easily throws me into the other room. I see Kol about to have steam coming out of his ears because of his anger. He looks at me and his face immediately changes from pure anger to utter concern. I give him my best "even though I'm in excruciating pain, I'm fine…" look. Luckily, at the time, only Kol, Finn, and Rebekah were there. If the others were, this would turn into a whole standoff. Esther disregards the entire situation and comes into the room I am now, involuntarily, in. "Do not threaten me, Mariana. You may be a hybrid now, but I am still much stronger. Please, sit." She gestures to the comfy chair nearest to her. She sat down in another chair and says, "I have something I need to confess. Jayden didn't die because of me trying to _avenge_ Henrik, or because it is a pattern with Percy." "Then how the hell did he die?" I ask, with mixed feelings about wanting to receive the answer. "It did have something to do with revenge. I visited Elena in a dream, as I used to do with you, and gave her a choice: Either poison Jayden with something I gave her, or I threatened to kill Jeremy. I then erased her memory of it ever happening. But once it was over, I felt awful. I've decided to be honest with you only for the factor that you are part witch, and I have a higher respect for witches than I do _vampires_." I stopped listening when she said Jeremy. All I can think about is how I will hurt Elena for this. "This is not for you to get revenge on the doppelganger, but for your trust," She practically reads my mind. "If you are to help me with the spell I will perform, you will need to have faith that it will work. I do not have as much power as I used to. I am channeling the Bennett line, and since there are only two, I am weaker than what I once was. And another thing that is required – you can't love my children as much as you do now for this to work." "Excuse me?" My voice cracks, as the tears threaten to fall from all that I have found out. One of my greatest friends killed my brother. And Esther compared the worth of two boys, just to kill one off. The hatred inside of me is burning furiously. "I'm sorry once more, Mariana. Sorry that you had to fall in love with one of my children and ended up getting stuck in the middle of a brewing war between myself and my children, a war that they do not yet know about." Esther holds up one hand and focuses her magic, whilst muttering a spell under her breath. I try to scream, but part of the spell must be forbidding it, because I can't seem to prohibit words to be heard. I can only mouth, nothing else. My knees lock, I go lightheaded and then my body goes numb as I collapse to the floor.

I wake up a few minutes later feeling weird, different. That hatred is gone, as is my excitement on Kol's return. I stand up from the floor and turn around, seeing Esther rummaging through the objects on the desk. She eventually gives up and turns around to see me standing there, watching her. I understand what I'm feeling now. I completely understand.

I

Feel

Nothing.


	14. 14 The Devil Inside

Recap: I wake up a few minutes later feeling weird, different. That hatred is gone, as is my excitement on Kol's return. I stand up from the floor and turn around, seeing Esther rummaging through the objects on the desk. She eventually gives up and turns around to see me standing there, watching her. I understand what I'm feeling now. I completely understand.

I

Feel

Nothing.

Esther then tells me, "Now, you will help me kill my children." I walk over to her and get close to her face. "Why the bloody hell should I help you?" She then starts to give me a witchy migraine and I scowl. "Fine. I'll help you. But I want something in return." "And what's that?" I smirk devilishly. "I have been on the other side for eight hundred years, and you have been for nine hundred. I know that the body I have been placed in isn't the same as my old one. My eyes are a different color, and my hair is naturally brown, but Mariana's was naturally black. I want to be restored to my other body. I wish to still have the power I have now, but inside the other body." "May I ask why?" I sigh, and take a while to think. "Carmen Ash is not a real person. She is made up, nothing but a semblance. Being in this body, I feel as though I am a copy of the real thing. Either I return to my body or I will offer no help and tell everybody your homicidal plots," I say with a smirk.

I walk out of the enclosed room and sit down next to Rebekah, acting as though all is ordinary. "What took you so long?" Rebekah asks. "She just talks and talks and talks," I joke. Rebekah laughs, "About what?" "She tried to apologize for partaking in killing Jayden." "Oh yeah, I heard about that. I'm sorry for it." "Thank you, Bex. She also revealed something to me." Esther looks me straight in the eye. "Elena was the one who poisoned him." I see Esther look somewhat relieved. "What?" Rebekah demands with pure anger in her eyes. I see Kol and Finn look over too. I nod agreeing.

A little while later, Elijah, Klaus and I are stuck in the same room together setting up for the ball. "So, who are you bringing?" Rebekah asks, suddenly right in front of me. I lead her farther away from the boys and say, "Well, Nik is probably taking Caroline, so I don't know. We have not been too close for the past few days, so I get it, I guess," I say. "Elijah!" I yell from across the ballroom to where he is fixating on the speaker system. He immediately turns around and asks, "What is it?" "You're taking me to the ball, right?" "Uh-" "Ok, great," I bluntly respond. Rebekah chuckles, but what I find more interesting is the look of pain Nik gave me. Ha, like I give a damn about his love life, or mine for that matter.

After getting a _bite to eat,_ aka messily draining people of blood at Whitmore, whom are not locals (against Esther's rules), Kol and I make our way upstairs. When I enter my new room, I see Rebekah already with my dress and some accessories for it on the bed, as she tries to sort out an outfit. I rush over, "No, no, no. This is all wrong! You can't wear _this_ barrette with _these_ shoes! Bekah, come on! This is not the first century anymore!" I joke. We eventually pick this outfit for me to wear. cgi/set?id=179607016

Kol and I walk downstairs as I examine all of the people staring at us. "People are staring because you look exquisite," Kol says, reading my mind. "Thank you. Who are all these people?" I inquire. "Townsfolk," He responds. We depart at the end of the stairs and Elijah immediately takes my hand. "Well, if I am to accompany you to this ball, I must play the part, correct?" He jokes after he kisses my hand when I extend it. "O, Elijah, how charming," I laugh. I then look up and make eye contact with Esther. She whispers under her breath, making it so only I can hear, "When Elena comes, you come." I nod slightly and Elijah asks, "Am I the only one who suspects my mother's plans to be a bit, sketchy?" "They seem a tad off to you because you haven't spend almost a millennium on the other side. It changes people, for better or worse. Some go crazy and obsess over tiny things, and others attempt to find peace by forgiving others and setting a goal to be forgiven." I then see Kol going up to Damon and Carol. As much as I would love to watch Kol and Damon fight right here right now, I have an act to execute, and I must do so well. I go up to Kol kissing Carol's hand after saying, "Mayor Lockwood, we haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson. I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it." I silently chuckle at that. Knowing Kol, he will probably kill the first person who does anything wrong by him or me.

 _Flashback_

" _Go! Go!" Niklaus coaxes us out the door. Kol and I are to go to the market today, although I would much rather stay home and relax; I agreed to come, since I have not been in civilization in over a year. I visited my mother's home in secret once, but that is the closest I have come, and that isn't much of a civilization… We walk into town and to the market. I truthfully have no idea where I am going, but apparently Kol does. Who am I to fool, Kol is most likely as lost as I am. We finally see it in the distance and decide to fast walk towards it and see who gets there first. Around halfway there, I turn to watch Kol, and bump into a rather large looking man. "I am so sorry, sir." The man smiles creepily and as Kol approaches, he asks, "is she yours or can I take her home with me?" Kol, immediately furious, grabs him by the throat and chokes him before he slams him as hard as he possibly can onto the ground, probably killing him. "Does she look like bloody property, 'mate'?" He asks the now dead body sarcastically. He then speeds the both of us home. Bye-bye civilization, hope you'll miss me!_

I walk back over to Elijah and he immediately tells me, "Come on, we are going to the staircase for the speech." "Elijah, that is for your family. It would be odd for me to go up there." "Anybody who would like to judge it can come by me so I may rip their hearts out." I smirk at this. "Uh, if everyone could gather, please. Welcome. Thank you all for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom." Elijah holds out his hand and I give him a look. "Come on, follow tradition, Mar!" He pretends to scold. I roll my eyes and take his hand. After a dance, we switch partners and I get stuck with Klaus. "So, how's your relationship with Caroline going?" I fake-angrily ask. "Don't be like this." "Be like what, Niklaus? You are in love with another girl. And hey, I get it. You have been _alive_ 1000 years, you were bound to move on at some point." I pull away but he immediately pulls me back with greater strength. "I am not in love with Caroline. Yes, I have a stupid crush on her but remember that I waited for you eight hundred years, I have had a few _flings_ here and there." "It's not called 'waiting for me' when I died, and it sure as hell is not called waiting for me when your mother was the one who killed me. So just-… Tell me when the _fling_ is over." I switch partners before he can respond and get paired with Finn. "You'll perform it when the ball is over." I nod. "So when shall my end of the deal be fulfilled?" "Soon," Finn responds in a monotone and careless voice. "Finn, I want a better answer than _soon_." "Well, I can't give you one," He responds and then walks away. Elijah greets me. "Why did you need to be in the room with Esther earlier? And don't tell me it was her gaining forgiveness. Why did you need to be with Esther so long?" I wait a minute and then say, "I need something stronger than this weak champagne," before hastily walking into the kitchen. I grab a bottle of some sort of alcohol and take a swig. "Not having fun?" Kol asks. "No, I'm just craving blood." "Ah, yes that's right, you're a hybrid now." "Well, I don't know what to call what I am. I'm a vampire, and a werewolf, and a witch." "What? A witch? Before me?" I chuckle and sarcastically say, "Sorry." I hear Esther clinking a spoon to her champagne glass, signaling a speech. We walk out and I hear Esther say, "It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this _spectacular_ evening. Cheers!" Esther finishes as I grab a champagne glass. "Cheers," I say with a smirk while Kol takes a sip of his glass. I reluctantly take a sip of mine and give the rest to one of the men walking around with platters. Later on when the party has come to an end, I go up to Esther's room, where she and Finn are. "Now I understand – Emotions are  so annoying. Always having to care, it's tiresome." Esther chuckles and I walk over to the table with the spells. Esther cuts into Finn's hand and drips his blood over the paper with the siblings' names inscribed. "It is time." I nod. We both let our hands hover above the paper. "Phasmatos Inta Grum Vin Callus Amalon Callagius Accodum. Cosom Naben Dox Callagius Amalon Gaeda Callagius. Ceremum Descendium Vinum. Phasmatos Inta Grum Callus. Cosom Naben Dox."

3x15

I wake up tiredly in Nik's mansion and shower before I get dressed in .it/sru1v2-l-610x610-sweater-shoes-winter+autumn-fall+outfits-oversized+sweater-leather+boots-brown+leather+boots-winter+ . I hear a knock at my bedroom door so I walk over and open to see Finn with his index finger to his lips, signaling for me to be quiet. I nod and put some items in my bag before following him outside. "Where are we going?" I whisper as we walk out. Esther joins and motions for me to get into the drivers seat of my car. Right, they can't drive… I do so and once everyone is inside and I am pulling out, I ask, "Is anybody going to tell me where we are going or shall I just drive around Mystic Falls aimlessly?" I ask. "To Mystic Falls cemetery, please. We are meeting the Bennett witches." I nod.

We get there and about ten minutes later, I hear footsteps and giggling. "Bennett witches, thank you for coming. I can think of no better alies than the woman who sent Mikael into his long sleep and the girl who fought Niklaus so bravely." "Why exactly did you invite us here?" The conversation goes on, but I tune out.

I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket so I go inside the creepy building to answer it. "Hello?" _"Mariana, where are you? My mother is plotting against us, and trying to kill us. I fear you may be in danger as well,"_ Niklaus says. "I can protect myself if that is what you are implying." _"Mariana. Come home. I don't want you out alone!"_ He says in a stern, protective voice. "Just like old times, Nik. You are worried for no reason. I am fine. Goodbye, Niklaus," I immediately hang up before he can respond. (A/N Since Elijah threatened to kill Elena if Damon and Stefan didn't stop Esther and their plan was to dagger Kol, let's just pretend that Caroline wasn't Niklaus's distraction lol)

All of us are in the woods. Finn and I are lighting up the torches whilst Esther explains everything to Bonnie and her mother. Esther says that Finn is the sacrifice, and he is choosing to die for this cause. He's been in a box for 900 years, why does he want to die as soon as he gets out? Not a clue… Just then, Finn's veins pop out and his skin goes grey as he tumbles to the dirt ground. I exchange confused looks from Esther.

I am standing with the Bennett witches as Niklaus, Kol, and Elijah approach. Kol tries to step inside of the circle that Finn and Esther are safely inside, but the flames only grow higher. "That's lovely," Kol starts, "we're stuck out here while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn." "Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine." "Whatever you think of us, killing your own children would be an atrocity," Elijah says. "My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago." "Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, mother, or I'll send you back to hell." I hold in a snicker at Niklaus's remark. I follow the witches into the building. "This place has some serious vibe to it," Abby comments. "The witch spirits will protect us from the Originals, but we should get to the basement." As we walk downstairs I stay completely silent until Abby asks, "You're Carmen, right? I thought you were on our side, not Esther's." "Yea, since the Originals were undaggered, you have been acting different. You have been more distant with us." "I've been busy, ok? I am on your side, so stop pestering me about these idiotic matters." Bonnie seems to drop the subject and says, "I'll go see if there are any candles to brighten the surroundings while we wait." I nod as then Abby turns to me and says, "So-" I speedily bite my wrist, shove it in her mouth, and snap her neck. I am not letting Esther kill Niklaus, because if she kills Niklaus, I die too. I see Damon speed up and give me a confused look. I flash out and stand beside the boys as Esther yells, "Sisters, do not abandon me!" "They aren't abandoning you, one of them is dead," I say with a smug look on my face. Kol and Niklaus immediately look at me, impressed, but Elijah looks at me with, I can't put a finger on it, something between horror and disappointment. Oh well, I don't really give a damn what he thinks. I hold up my hand as I chant under my breath, making the torches immediately extinguish. We see that Esther is gone. I'm going to pay for that one…

Elena's POV:

I turn around in my room to see Carmen, or Mariana, or whatever her name is, standing in front of the window. "You killed Bonnie's mom. Why?" I ask, my voice breaking. "I'm part vampire now, Elena, it's what vampires do. We kill people and don't care. I mean, look at boyfriend number 2, Damon has killed more people in a month than you can keep track of," Her thick British accent says smugly. "No!" I scream. "I refuse to believe you could turn from one of the best people I have ever met to a murderer so easily." "I'm heartbroken, Elena, I really am. A murderer?" "The Carmen I know and love wouldn't do this." "Well I am not the Carmen you _know and love_. She died when the bomb went off at her doorstep and killed the rest of her family." I stand there, shocked. I never knew what happened to her family. But hearing her say this so freely makes me want to cry. "Mariana wouldn't either. On one of our meetings, Elijah told me who you used to be, and what Klaus used to be for you. When you died was when he started being what he is today, a monster. I know why you're acting like this, Mariana. You flipped your emotions off, didn't you?" I question. "Didn't you!" I scream. "You can be quite the whiner, Elena. I would quit with the bratty attitude. Everybody has sacrificed enough to make you happy, no need for more death," She says before flashing out.

Mariana's POV:

I walk into the Mystic Grill and straight to the bar when I get a text from Kol. / _Are you going to come with me? I am leaving Mystic Falls and am headed for New York._ /Esther still owes me something. I shall not leave until the debt is paid./ I start to feel a severe headache so I run into the bathroom, trying not to drag attention to myself. It feels like my bones are crushing, and I look down and realize they are. I gather all of my strength and speed to the Salvatore cellars. I lock myself inside of one and slam up against the wall, screaming in agony. My bones start to move into inhuman position. My arm snaps backwards, and soon my legs do as well. I unwillingly bare my fangs and purple wolf eyes as I transform. Soon enough, I am in wolf form. I start to howl as loud as I can, wanting to be free and to kill people. I slam into the door, trying to break free. I soon start to change back. I howl in pain.

 _I few minutes later, I wake up from blacking out, I presume. I am not in the Salvatore cell anymore. I sit up and examine my surroundings. I am in a small room with three beds and not much else early in the morning. I sit up and look down at my current attire. cgi/set?id=180141812. I am in an old fashioned purple dress. Wait… this is one of my own. I would recognize it anywhere. I wore this the day I died. I then look at my hair, and instead of the straight medium-brown hair I am used to, I see my old brown-black wavy hair. I immediately run outside and see exactly what I expect to see. The Mikaelson Manor right across the field. I run towards it, attempting, but failing, to run at superhuman speed. As soon as I am across the field, I notice something peculiar. I gaze around the once empty field and find roads and many more cottages and homes across the field, with sleeping citizens inside. I quickly rush inside and slide into my bed before anybody notices. I think about what I am doing here. I wore this dress once – the day I was killed. So today must be some sort of repetition of that day._ _"Niklaus!" I hear Kol call. "Kol! Shut the bloody hell up, will you?" I yell from my chambers. I hear him laugh, and then hear Rebekah scream, "Shut up!" at the top of her lungs, which makes Kol and I erupt in laughter. "What is it, brother?" Nik calls. "We have a visitor." At that, I shoot up from bed and get dressed. I always love when people come and visit. There have been witches, warlocks, beggars, vampires, and even a few of my own kind. I rush to the door and see a woman with dark skin, brown eyes, and beautiful hair_ _/F96Zk8_ _. "You must be Mariana. I am Annalisa Bennett. I was sent by your mother." Something was off about her. Not only that she knew my bitch of a mother, but that she sent her. "Bennett? So you're a witch?" Kol asks, intrigued. She nods. "Why did my mother send you?" I ask. "May I come in so we may talk?" I nod hesitantly._  
 _We are sitting by the fire with tea as we talk. "I have known your mother since I was born. She has always been so kind to me and my family." "Well I suppose we have met different versions of my mother, as she has always been in a nark around her children." "As you know, she has some mental disabilities. You mustn't blame her for being who she is." "I mustn't blame her!" I yell. Nik puts his hands on my shoulders from behind to calm me down. "The entirety of my life, I have known an awful person who is greedy and doesn't care for her children one bit, and yet she seems to have cared for you immensely. Just tell me why you are here, so you may leave." I tell her harshly. I don't mean the things I say, but my mother is a "sensitive" topic to say the least. She starts laughing. "She was right." I give her a look telling her I don't understand. "Esther was right about you. She said your temper is unbelievable, and that you aren't one to welcome newcomers and she was right. You did seem nice at first, so I am sorry that I must do this." "Do what?" I ask. Niklaus stands in front of me protectively, "Yes, what is it you speak of." She just laughs again and starts chanting, "Lihednat Dolchitni." I start suffocating and Niklaus runs after the girl, who has inconveniently disappeared, and then comes to me to try and help. I am still suffocating as the other Mikaelsons come downstairs and try to help. "Mariana!" Rebekah speeds over to me, trying to help. A few seconds later, I fall down lifelessly. I immediately wake up, although my body is still on the ground. I feel the same pain as earlier, and before I know it, I collapse._


	15. 15 History Repeating

Recap: _I start suffocating and Niklaus runs after the girl, who has inconveniently disappeared, and then comes to me to try and help. I am still suffocating as the other Mikaelsons come downstairs and try to help. "Mariana!" Rebekah speeds over to me, trying to help. A few seconds later, I fall down lifelessly. I immediately wake up, although my body is still on the ground. I feel the same pain as earlier, and before I know it, I collapse._

I wake up and examine my surroundings once more. I am back in the Salvatore Cell, but there is something peculiar about it. I feel, odd. I look down and see dark brown hair and the dress I wore. I then feel something in my stomach. I'm hungry. I try to exit the cell, but fail, as I am much too weak. I then try to open it with a spell, but fail once more. I probably should have thought this through… I then turn around and see my other body on the floor, with veins covering the skin. I pull my phone out and find Niklaus's contact. I call him and tell him what happened. I leave out the part that I flipped my switch, but I figure he already has figured that out by the way I have been acting. A few minutes later, I hear him come down laughing his ass off. "Oh shut up, Nik." Hearing my own voice, I realize my accent has changed. It is much thicker and older sounding, more like Finn's in a way. "I need blood and I cannot get the bloody door open." This just makes Niklaus laugh even harder. "This is what happens when you make deals with my mother, love. Somehow, you never get what you want." "I have what I want, I just need to get out of this blasted cell!" "Do you feel any, different?" "Um, I guess, why?" "Because Mariana was not a witch, nor a vampire." "Than why do I want blood?" "Let's find out, shall we?" He hands me a blood bag and I start to drink it, but violently cough it up. Nik rushes in and holds me up while grabbing the blood bag. I start to scream in agony as my eyes go purple and my necklace starts glowing. _Congratulations, Mariana. You are now a true hybrid, more powerful than ever before._ I hear my father's voice in my head. I hold my fingers to my temples and scream, "Get out of my head!" _You are never going to truly be Mariana Duval or Carmen Ash. You will be both. You will have both of your powers, both of your hearts, and both of your minds._ "Get out of my head!"I scream once more as the tears threaten to fall. _Be careful, Mariana. Do not disappoint me._ I drop to the floor and bundle up in a ball, crying. "What did I do? What did I do? What did I do?" I anxiously repeat to myself. "What happened, Mariana?" Niklaus asks lovingly. "I haven't a clue." We stay silent for a minute until I start thinking, "Oh my god. Abby. I killed Abby. A-a-and Elena, oh my god. Look what I've done. Oh my god," I keep repeating and start to cry. Niklaus bends down and pulls me to his chest and I let out a cry.

Skip to 3x18

untitled/set?id=166446272 I walk into Ric's loft and go inside. I immediately see Ric, Stefan, and Damon. When Damon sees me, he immediately tenses up, as does Ric.

Damon's POV:

I see Carmen enter Ric's loft and I immediately prepare for the worst. She looks different, but I can tell it's her. "What are you doing here, Carmen? You flipped the switch. I thought you'd be off with Kol killing people," I say with a smirk. "Yea, well, I flipped it back. Not by choice, but I did. I wanted to come over here and say-" She seems to have trouble finishing the sentence. "Sorry?" Ric suggests sarcastically. "Yea, that. I killed Abby and threatened Elena and teamed up with Esther and everything else that I did. I'm… I'm sorry." "Apology accepted," I say smugly. "That may not be as easy with the girls, though. So, what's with the new look? Different hair, different eyes, different voice, different everything." "This isn't my body. Well, it is, just not the one you are used to seeing." She pauses and exaggerates a curtsy, "This is Mariana's." I nod.

Mariana's POV:

Later on, I get a call from Kol. _"Hello, Mari."_ He says as I walk into Klaus's house. "Hello, Kol." "Nik told me everything that happened. Are you all right? Do you want me to come back?" I laugh. "I'm fine, Kol. A bit mentally scarred, but I'm fine." "Nik told me that there was a voice in your head that told you not to disappoint. It was your father, wasn't it?" I walk into the parlor and see Bonnie sitting down, studying what looks to be an unlinking spell, with Klaus looming over her threateningly. "Listen, Kol. I'll call you back, and then we can talk more." I hang up and stand at the entrance of the parlor. "What is going on?" I ask. I hear Bonnie's heart rate pick up. "Your little witchy friend here, Bonnie, is helping me with a spell. Run along now," He smirks. "Niklaus, she has been through enough. If you want a spell done, I will do it, not Bonnie. She doesn't need to get involved in this." "I'm afraid she does. You will not be getting involved. You just changed bodies and were tormented by my mother with these voices for a week. Leave. Go find Kol, for all I care, just don't be involved in this." "I am not leaving her alone with you." "Do you not trust me that I won't hurt her?" "No. No I don't." "Well that's too bad, because I meant what I said. You are not getting involved." He then speeds up and snaps my neck.

I wake up in my room with Kol standing next to the bed. "Finally, you're awake." "What is going on?" "The Bennett witch is doing a spell to unlink us." "Kol, I turned her mom into a vampire and now she's left her. Bonnie shouldn't be doing this right now." "Well that's too bad, because she is." I speed downstairs but Kol speeds right with me and takes me outside. "You cannot interfere, Mari, as much as I know you want too, you cannot." I feel something peculiar in my heart. "The machinery, and the wooden sign at Ric's loft. Ugh, I should've realized… Oh my god, Finn." I speed to the Grill with Kol right behind me and see Sage leaning over Finn's body. I run up to him and say, "No, no, no, no, no, no! He cannot be dead. He cannot be dead!" Kol walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder sympathetically. "No," I drag the _o_ out in my sobbing. "Come on, darling." He says as he gently pulls me up. He speeds us to Nik's Mansion and next to his car. He opens the passenger side for me and I smile sadly, "You always were a gentleman. A homicidal gentleman." He chuckles. "Where are we going?" I ask as he pulls out of the driveway. "To check on baby Gilbert."

3x19

We drive up to Kol's current residence. "I don't have any clothing." "Then go shopping." "Ok then." "Guess where you, Jeremy and I are going today?" He says in a sarcastically excited voice. "Where?" "Batting cages, just like every single week…" I laugh. "Practice makes perfect, yea?" "Have you seen that boy batting? Saying he sucks is an understatement." I laugh and we get out of the car. A few minutes later, Jeremy rings the doorbell. I run to get it but Kol stops me and silently tells me to go out of sight. "Hey, mate. I was thinking of meeting up with an _old_ friend at the batting cages." "Sounds cool, man." After they finally leave, I speed over to the cages. I stand around and begin explore. "Mariana!" I hear Kol yell. I walk up and when Jeremy sees me he asks, "Carmen?" "Hey," I say awkwardly. He hugs me and asks, "What are you doing here?" "I guess I just needed a break. Well, that is, according to Kol, since he dragged me here against my will." "You make me sound like such a bad guy," He says to which I laugh at. "You changed your look." "Not exactly. This isn't Carmen's body, it's Mariana's."

The day goes on and we hang out there for a while until I get hungry and Kol takes me to eat. We go to the back of a bar, waiting for somebody to come out, because drawing attention to ourselves isn't going to be ok if we are to keep the cover with Jeremy. I check my phone and see multiple texts from Bonnie, Damon, and Caroline. Most of them are asking where I am and Bonnie's is just thanking me and hoping that I am ok.

After we are satisfied, I decide to go back to Kol's house since I am tired after the day. I compel a taxi to drive me there and then go straight to the living room after grabbing my bag. I sit on the floor and take my tablet, pulling up some pictures of spells. First, for practice, I grab a piece of paper, crumble it up, and then find the regeneration spell. I put the paper flat on my hand and start chanting, "Sanguinatum planicium. Sanguinatum planicium." I open my eyes and see a completely flat piece of paper. I put it down and grab my necklace from my bag and hold it in my hand. "It's time to finish this. Phasmatos Obscuram, Ex Luces Estnes Qua Umbres. Natus Ignavum Evitem. Phasmatos Obscuram, Ex Luces Estnes Qua Umbres." My father immediately appears. I look up and feel a bundle of emotions. I am sad, angry, and yet happy. "Hello, Mar." "Don't call me that. You lost that privilege the minute you slept with one of those slutty strumpets of yours." "I made mistakes, Mariana, and for that I am sorry." "Yes, Father. You made mistakes. You made mistakes about a dozen times." "Than why did you summon me? If not about this than about what?" "Kol seems to believe that it was his mother who is messing with my head. But I believe it is you. I summoned you to get you to stop. You drove me mad enough alive." "I am doing no such thing. How could I on the other side, Mariana?" "I don't know, maybe you slept with a powerful witch, as well." "Enough, Mariana!" "No! That is not enough! You made my brother and I suffer for far too long. And Mother… You drove Mother mad! She went crazy! She was mad as everybody for nothing because she couldn't let her anger out on you! Were you there every day as she yelled at _your_ son for not doing god-knows-what?! No! You weren't! But I was! Do not lie to me now! Admit that this is your doing!" "I am not going to tell you something that is far from true! Why will you not let me tell the truth?" "Because Esther is dead and this voices are still there! I don't know any other explanation!" "Have you thought for a second that it is another ghost? Why are you so convinced it is me?" "Because…" I quiet down, "the first time the voices appeared, they told me not to disappoint them. That is what you haunted me with every day of my life. I had to pick and choose what to do for it to be to your liking!" "Have you ever thought that it was not me who was going to be disappointed? Perhaps you were afraid of disappointing yourself." And with that, he is gone. I sit there, in shock. He is right. Those voices in my head that are telling me their versions of right and wrong, they are both me: Mariana and Carmen. They are fighting inside of my head. _Don't worry, darling. Soon enough, I alone will end your suffering and control your head. No more fighting with Carmen. We can get rid of the idiotic civilians of Mystic Falls and go back to the way things were. No more Caroline getting in the way of Niklaus and us. / No! Don't listen to her. The Mikaelsons are nothing but a threat to you and your friends. You can't trust them. I mean just think reasonably about this, Klaus just snapped your neck and handed you off to Kol like you are nothing._ I don't want to go back to the way things were, but I will not leave the Mikaelsons. I will not leave my family.

I speed to where Kol texted me that he will be, Mary Porter's mansion. The vampires of Mystic Falls are trying to find out whom they are descended from. Kol plans to stop it. I do as well, because if they are to find out that it is Niklaus, than they will try to kill Kol, Elijah, and Rebekah, and if they believe that they aren't, than Niklaus is killed, which will result in every vampire in mystic falls dying, including myself. I am not willing to let any of those scenarios play out. I speed in just as Damon's car parks in the driveway. I find Kol and he silently waves cockily. I realize that I am still holding the necklace in my hand, so I put it on. I suddenly feel my power grow stronger. It's a talisman. I hear Damon and Elena come in, and Kol speeds away and comes back with Mary, holding her mouth so she wouldn't speak. I smirk at her. Once Damon and Elena are close enough, Kol stabs Mary, creating a loud bang. As the duo walks into the room, Damon says, "Mary…" "Quite contrary," Kol responds as he turns the desk lamp on. I stay hidden for a little while as Kol speeds up and punches Damon. "Shame about Mary. She used to be a blast. I don't quite know what happened." I walk out of the shadows and scoff before saying, "She spent far too much time with us. She was a bit of an Original groupie, always hanging around. Even after my constant threats to kill her in her sleep…" I reminisce. "Were you her favorite?" Elena asks Kol. "You mean did I turn her. I think I did." "No, no, no. That was definitely Rebekah. But there was that Klaus period." "Let's not forget the Elijah affair." "Carmen, why are you here?" "Any scenario that plays out in my mind ends up with one of them being dead. I'm sorry, Elena, but I cannot let that happen. This way, you won't find out who created your bloodline," I say, turning back to Damon. I focus my mind and am able to get inside of Elena's. I tell her that Damon will be ok, and that I am sorry for what she is about to see. "So, where did we leave off?" Kol asks sarcastically whilst banging the aluminum bat on the floor. He hits Damon's leg, making him fall down and Elena just stares at me. Her look isn't anger, but confusion. Kol repeatedly hits Damon with the bat. When Elena tries to run, Kol speeds in front of her and says, "According to my brother, you're off-limits. Just don't test me." He pushes Elena to the side, making her nick her head, and goes back to Damon, who speeds up and puts her in a chokehold. "Don't touch her." "Oh dear, I've hit the nerve. Relax, darling. I just want us to be even." I give him a look and he just smiles at me. "You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me." He hits the bat with much force three times before I yell, "Enough! You want to send a message, not kill him." I say, staring into his eyes angrily. "Very well." He then leans down and says, "Next time, I won't let you go so easily." He grabs me and speeds back to his temporary home. "You had to ruin all the fun? Maybe I liked you better with no humanity. At least then you killed people without feeling so awful," He says as we arrive at the doorstep. I take a minute to let that sink in and then enter the house without saying another word. He's right. I killed poor Abby and felt no remorse, and then threatened Elena and felt no remorse. At least Elena partially deserved it. But still, old me would die one hundred times over instead of killing another, and if she did, she would do absolutely anything and everything to make it up.


	16. 16 Revenge

3x20

I am with Nik as he is painting and I am reading a boring historical book. "I should probably tell you something that happened when I was in Denver with Kol." "And what's that?" "You know those voices that I told you about?" "Yes," He says, turning around to pay attention to this part. "I thought they were from my father. I- um, I used a manifestation spell so I could see him. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was enough. We yelled at each other, and fought like we always have. When I accused him of being the voices in my head and he asked why, I told him that it was because he always made me feel like I couldn't disappoint him, and I needed to make sure he approved every choice I made in life. He told me that, instead of accusing him, I should be looking at myself. He told me that I always acted as if I needed to do everything perfect to exceed my own high standards. The voices in my head are Carmen and Mariana, fighting it out. They are complete opposites. Every choice I now make involves excruciating hours of arguing, and I can't take it. It is as if I have to choose between the two, and I am not either of them. I am not the clueless Carmen, or the perfect Mariana. I don't know what to do, Niklaus. I don't know how to fix this." "I can't tell you how to fix this, but I can tell you to ignore it, and if it doesn't go away then, burn her body." "What?" "This body is Mariana, and the other is Carmen. Maybe, if you destroy one body, the voices will go away. We know that at least one of the voices is stemmed from that body, right? So destroy it. It's in the coffin room." "I'll try to ignore it for the dance tonight, and if that doesn't work, I will burn it. It is just, hard."

(At the 1920's decade dance)

I am dancing with Nik and laughing along until I see Jeremy, Elena, and Stefan leave. "Don't worry about them." I nod and continue dancing. We dance all night until Damon comes up and says, "We've got a problem." I exchange worried looks with Niklaus and then we speedily walk out. We then see a line of salt surrounding the school. Nik tries to go past it, but he is unable to. "Can you and Bonnie find a way to get us past this?" Stefan asks. I nod and say, "We can try." "I never did like mothers, especially yours," I say with a smirk, glaring at Nik. I speed inside before he can protest me using my power. I find Bonnie with her date, Jamie, and say, "Sorry to spoil your seven minutes in heaven but I need your help."

We stand above a map and recite the spell in unison. "They do this all the time, right?" Jamie asks, worried for Bonnie. "What's taking so long? All boundary spells have a loophole." "Well a spell this old requires time, Niklaus. So put a sock in it," I say with a smirk. Matt suddenly storms in before Nik can get angry and says, "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier." "Well, if Matt and I can leave, we could stop Esther ourselves. We just got to find out where she is." "I sure as hell will not let you waltz right outside and into your death, Jeremy. It's suicide." "And suicide would be disappointing me," Klaus says as he puts Jamie in a chokehold. "Now work your magic, Bonnie, or I'll start killing people you fancy." "Let him go!" I yell. "Not until you two get us out of here." "Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus. Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. If you start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell." Niklaus reluctantly releases him and Bonnie and I exchange looks before continuing the spell.

A little while has passed and, with Nik's help, we have found their location, but haven't dropped the boundary spell, so I decide I need a _break_. I walk outside, Bonnie and Nik following, and sit down in front of the salt. I grab my necklace and hold it tight. Bonnie comes next to me and holds my free hand. We start chanting. We then see Jeremy and Matt run off to try and save the day, despite my constant pleas. We feel the boundary spell that Esther has made grow instantly weaker, which means that something has weakened Esther. "It's done," Bonnie and I say in unison. Niklaus sticks his hand outside of the boundary and it freely goes past the salt. He then speeds off and I follow. We arrive at the scene of Esther on the floor with a stab wound and Elena explaining to Alaric what happened to him. "Go, Nik. Put Esther in a coffin. I have to talk to Ric." He nods and speeds away with his mother's body. I walk inside of the tomb where Elena and Ric now are and Elena goes out so we can talk. "I'm sorry. I should have stabbed Esther right when she awoke from the coffin. Then my emotions wouldn't have been turned off and Abby wouldn't be dead and you wouldn't be dying and-" "It isn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong." "Yes I did. I could have spared Abby's life-" "But then every vampire in Mystic Falls would be dead, including you and Klaus. You did the right thing." "From the start when you were deciphering the story from the cave, you knew that I knew what they meant. But you didn't press me to tell you, why? I would've." "Because I knew it wasn't something you wanted to share. You didn't want to betray your family like that." I run up to him and hug him. "Goodbye, Ric," I say in a sad voice. "Goodbye," he says back to me. He, Elena, and I walk out and see everybody standing there, Caroline, Tyler, Stefan, Damon, Meredith, everyone. I give Ric one last sad-smile and go to join where Jeremy is standing. He takes my hand and squeezes it lightly. I let go of his hand and give him a long hug. I know he wants to cry, but he won't, not right now. We release and watch as Ric goes back into the tomb. "I'm sleeping over tonight, ok?" I ask with a smile. Jeremy nods with the best smile he can conjure, which isn't a very peppy one.

We arrive at the Gilbert house and sit down on the couch. I snuggle against one if my best friends and he turns on a movie. I then refuse to hold it in any longer. I turn my head so it is buried in Jeremy's chest and I cry. I cry for Ric, for Jayden, for Arden, for Ryland, for Carmen's birth parents, for her adoptive parents, for Mariana's mom, for her dad, and for Percy. I cry for everybody that I have lost, and for everybody this town has lost.


	17. 17 Confrontation

Recap: We arrive at the Gilbert house and sit down on the couch. I snuggle against one if my best friends and he turns on a movie. I then refuse to hold it in any longer. I turn my head so it is buried in Jeremy's chest and I cry. I cry for Ric, for Jayden, for Arden, for Ryland, for Carmen's birth parents, for her adoptive parents, for Mariana's mom, for her dad, and for Percy. I cry for everybody that I have lost – everybody that this town has lost.

3x21

I wake up on one side of the couch of the Gilbert household with Jeremy on the other side. I lazily walk into the kitchen and find pancake mix. While those are cooking, I get my phone and find a missed call from Luke. I call him back. "Hey, sorry we couldn't hang out much last time you were here. I felt awful," I start off by saying. "It's fine, I had to leave early anyways. But that isn't what I wanted to talk about." "Ok, than what?" "Well, first of all, your voice sounds different." "That is a very long story for another time." "Ok. I wanted to talk about the fact that I've heard word about a true hybrid that was made." "Yea," I say awkwardly, "that's me." "What? How? Why?" "Part of the long story. Let's just say that I've lived before, and in my past life I was a werewolf, which I am in this life, but in this life, my mom was a werewolf and my dad a witch. A powerful witch decided that I could be of use to her, and here I am. I'm all three." I see Jeremy waking up so I say, "Hey, listen, I've got to go. We'll talk later, yeah?" "Ok, bye Car. Love you" "Bye, you too." Elena walks downstairs and says, "Hey, I started painting Ric's room last night and saw you two sleeping so I just decided not to wake you. Want to help?" "Yea, sure," Jeremy says groggily. "Ok, let me just finish these pancakes and get dressed in something different," I say. untitled/set?id=166324560

After painting for a bit, Stefan comes in and asks us, "Where's Elena?" Jeremy and I exchange worried looks. "We haven't seen her for a little while, why?" I ask. "Klaus is at the door, demanding to take her and we can't find her." I go into the living room and the two follow. I see Bonnie with a bloody neck. "What happened?" "I involuntarily gave Ric my blood. We think he has Elena." Damon then yells, "Duck!" and Niklaus throws part of a wooden fence our way. "What the bloody hell was that for, Niklaus!" "I think you're probably going to want to let me in!" He yells back. I try to go out, but Jeremy holds me back.

I find myself with Damon, Klaus, Bonnie, Jeremy and Stefan. Bonnie hands around a vile of her blood. "Here, drink this. It's my blood. It bridges us all together so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's. You need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream – a vein, artery, something connected to his heart." "One of us gets a clean shot, take it, the other two hold him down." "Before we all walk through these doors, let's get on the same page, shall we? I was the one who created your vampire bloodline, therefor I am responsible for your lives, and Tyler's life, Caroline's life, and, of course, Abby's life. Should anything go wrong." I feel a pang of guilt in my stomach. "Or, you're just lying to save your ass." "He's not lying. I was there when he killed Mary Porter, Damon. He isn't dying." "No, no. Go ahead, Damon, call my bluff. Let the teacher kill me. You'll all be dead soon thereafter." "Let's just get this over with, shall we," Stefan says.

I speed into the scene of Elena being choked on a locker by Alaric. The Salvatores run up and hold him still and tell me to do it, but before I can, he flings them away. With a flick of my wrist, I sent him flying across the corridor and into a set of lockers. He quickly recovers and snaps both of the Salvatores' necks. Nik comes as soon as the boys are down and grabs his heart. I slam him against the lockers and hold him still with all my strength. My strength as a witch and hybrid seems to have increased since I have switched bodies. _Don't do it, Carmen! Don't hurt him. Let him go free so he can rid the world of the demonic species._ I am part of that species; I cannot and will not do that. _You are right. You cannot let him spread any more misery. You must end this man. Even though he is your good friend, he has caused much suffering. He killed Caroline's dad and a member of the council. He is a threat to you and everybody in Mystic Falls. "_ Shut up!" I yell in my head. Niklaus gives me a look. I said that out loud. He immediately understands that it is the voices and ignores it. Alaric frees himself from our grips and throws me across the hallway. Niklaus immediately takes action and throws him onto the floor with all of his might as a sort of payback for throwing me. I smirk and recite a bone-breaking spell. "Ossox." Alaric falls to the ground, screaming and Nik takes that as a chance to grasp his heart. Somehow, Alaric recovered, probably with help from the witches. He put me in a chokehold on the ground and put the stake dangerously close to my heart. "Stop! Let her go or I'll kill myself." "Put it down, Elena." "Why? Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal. So she tied your life to a human one – mine. That way, you only have one lifespan to kill all vampires, and then you'll be gone. So when I die, you die, too. That's it! It has to be." "You're wrong." "Am I?" Elena starts cutting into her throat. "Stop, stop, stop, stop!" At his moment of weakness, I push Alaric off of me with all my might and Nik speeds Elena away. I run to Stefan and Damon and find them unconscious on the floor. I then see Alaric approaching. "You're not so scary when you don't have the big bad wolf as protection, are you?" He says. "You underestimate me, Alaric. Lihednat Dolchitni." I whisper the suffocation spell. Alaric drops to his knees and starts to loose air. I know it won't kill him, but it's enough to slow him down. "Wait!" He yells in a painful voice. I turn around and say, "What? Feeling a little less powerful?" I see Stefan and Damon join me weakly. "Klaus is going to kill Elena." "Klaus needs Elena's blood to make hybrids. She's the last person he'd kill." "The witch bound my life to Elena's. If she dies, I die. Klaus figured that out, and now he's taken her. Now I'm trapped here until the sun goes down, so you two," He says, gesturing to the boys, "better get to what you do best – saving Elena's life." I speed off to Nik's house with the boys behind me. I get there before them and decide to go inside instead of waiting. I hear Tyler releasing Elena and Elena saying, "Tyler…" I know that means she saw Niklaus. "So much for that sire bond." "I'm not your little bitch anymore. "How did you break the sire bond?" He asks. "By breaking every bone in my body one hundred times for the girl I love." "That's impossible." "Is it? Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty. But what would you know about that?" "You know, you should be thanking me. I gave you a gift, I took away your misery." "You didn't give a crap about me! You just didn't want to be alone." Tyler returns to helping Elena and, not being able to take it any longer, I speed upstairs into my room.

I am so upset right now. The fact that I don't know why saddens me even more. _You heard Tyler, Carmen. You heard how upset he sounded. Klaus took advantage of him. He doesn't deserve you. / Yes he does. Tyler made it clear as can be. Niklaus is alone, you need to be there for him. / But he hasn't been there for her! When we were fighting Alaric, he was no where to be found! / Nobody in Mystic Falls is any better! Niklaus knows that you can take care of yourself when it comes to things like this. Niklaus knows_ _you_ _. Nobody else seems to care enough to know you, unless you are needed for something. At least he cares._ I want to scream and yell for these voices to leave me be, but I know it will make no difference. I speed into the coffins room and find the one storing my body. I open it and look at the veins that shield my body. I notice the bracelet I am wearing - my good luck charm. I vividly remember the day Daniel gave that to me.

 _Flashback_

 _Daniel has brought me to a beautiful pond on the outskirts of LA. It is beautiful. My family must be wondering where I am, oh well. "Carmen!" I hear Daniel yell from inside a wooded area. I run up to where the voice leads me although he is nowhere to be seen. "Boo!" He yells as he comes from behind an abandoned shack. I scream and then slap his arm playfully. "Don't scare me like that!" I then see something in his hand. "I have something for you." He gives me a beautiful, narrow box with velvet covering. I slowly open the box, building the anticipation. I find a beaded bracelet with many different charms to symbolize different things including a four-leaf clover for luck. . . "I love it, Daniel. It's perfect. Thank you," I say as I hug him._

I hear Niklaus scream so I speed out into the main room. I see Stefan holding Nik's heart and Tyler and Damon holding them back. Before I can stop them, Niklaus's skin grows veiny. "What are you doing?" I ask them once Nik has dropped to the floor. "This is a way to get him out of our lives, Carmen. We need to do this," Tyler says as he walks towards me. "You are all out of your bloody minds," I warn before storming up the staircase. "Damon," I hear Elena say, "can you bring me up there? I need to talk to her." "She is in a bad mood, Elena. You don't want to be around her when she is in a bad mood, trust me." "Please," She repeats. A minute later, I hear a knock on the door and then a twist of the doorknob.

Elena's POV: I weakly walk inside and ask Damon to leave us alone for a while so we can talk. I just want to convince her that we are doing the right thing. I more so want to convince myself. We sit down and stay silent for a while until she randomly asks, "Why?" "Klaus is a threat to all of us-" "That isn't what I'm talking about." "Than why what?" "Why did you kill my brother?" Mariana states bluntly. "What?" I play dumb. "Don't do the whole clueless act with me, Elena. I want an answer – a real one." I take a while to prepare. "I had to make a choice – Jayden's life or Jeremy's. You would've made the same choice. I am sincerely sorry for that but I didn't have a choice." "Yes, you did. You could've come to me and I would've worked as hard as I could to avoid what happened." "That would've resulted in Jeremy's death." "You think I would let that psycho bitch hurt one of my best friends? Then maybe you don't know me as well as I thought you did." "What could you have done?" "I don't know, Elena! You never gave me the chance to try!" I see the tears in her eyes and all of the guilt that I have been avoiding comes back in masses. "Do you think I wanted to do what I did? I didn't! I don't feel as guilty knowing that it could have been Jeremy that died, but it wasn't." "You stole the last of my family from me, Elena. You are very lucky I haven't killed you yet; you are even luckier that I haven't let Rebekah come after you." "I am sorry, Mariana." "I know, but sorry isn't going to bring my brother back from the dead. You don't know how much I wished to have been the one who died. I have lost everybody, Elena. And now I lose Jayden and Niklaus because of you. I could have found a way." With that last sentence, she disappears.


	18. 18 Do Not Go Gentle

Mariana's POV:

I go back home and speed up to my bedroom. I grab a pillow and push it against my face to muffle the cries. I hear somebody come in. I look up to see Elijah rushing next to me. I tell him everything that happened, including Niklaus being decapitated, and then I fall asleep lying on his chest. I have been crying too much lately. I hate crying, but there is just so much to cry about.

3x22

I wake up groggily from the sound of my phone buzzing from a text. It's Jeremy. _Hey, Elena told me what happened. You ok? Want to hang out?_ I smile and text him back. _Ok, Where?_ I wait for a response. _I'm at the hospital – Elena fainted last night. You could come by if you want, or we can hang out later._ _I'll be there in half an hour._

I get dressed in cgi/set?id=166350678 and hop in my car, headed for the hospital. When I arrive, I find Meredith trying to convince Jeremy that Elena is ok. As mad as I am right now at Elena, I want her to be ok. I join Jeremy and look into the hospital bed. Elena is out cold, but her heart rate is descent. "It was a slight concussion, nothing to worry about." "But she collapsed, there was blood." Blood doesn't sound like a concussion to me. "Honestly, Jeremy, She's ok. She's just… She's ben through a lot. Is there anyone you want to call?" I pull out my phone and dial Damon's number. "Good luck," I say before going into the hospital room. I sit down in the waiting chair and ask with a smile, "Why do you have to keep getting hurt?" I then focus on bringing her into my mind.

 _I bring Elena and myself to my childhood home. It is a large meadow surrounded by nothing but trees, besides the hill that rolls down to a stream. On the field there are many cabins and lively people wandering around. "Where are we?" Elena asks curiously. "And why can't anybody see us?" "You are in my head. This is where I grew up before going off on my own." "You lived here? It's beautiful." "Come," I gesture her towards the stream. As we walk down the steep hill, I notice a man quarrelling with his wife. "Those are my parents," I say, still watching the couple. I continue to walk down towards the stream, trying to ignore them. I crouch down next to the water and say, "I used to play here every day with my brothers." "You had two?" "Yes, Percy and Lucien. Lucien was my stepbrother, though. He was taken away from here by his mother when I was nine." "I'm sorry." "It's alright. You didn't do anything wrong." "Why did you take me here?" "I took you here because I fret that there is more wrong with you than a mild concussion. A mild concussion doesn't usually involve bleeding, Elena. Something is up, and I wanted to tell you about. I brought you here to put you and I more at ease. This stream always did calm me," I say, putting my hand in the water. She crouches down next to me and says, "I am sorry about Jayden. If I could reverse time and try harder to save them both, I would. I shouldn't have done what I did." "It's alright, Elena. People make mistakes. I may have not seen this before, but I see now that I would have done the same thing. I would have sacrificed anything to save my brother's life. This was Esther's fault, not yours." "But I still feel awful." I whisper a mind easing spell of Esther's, making her mind more at peace._

Soon, I am back in the hospital. Jeremy rushes in and says, "We need to get Elena out of here." I nod as Jeremy picks his half-conscious sister up and I race out to the car, bringing it back so it is easier get her inside. I open the back door and hop in the driver's side. We arrive at the Gilbert house and Jeremy has already called everyone over. Before Jeremy can go inside, I stop him and say, "I have to go meet Elijah. Just tell Elena that I hope she gets better." He nods and kisses me on the cheek. "Thank you, for everything. I'm sorry this hang out thing didn't work out too well. I owe you one." "If we are being specific, you owe me a hell of a lot more than one," I respond with a smirk. He smiles back and then rushes inside. I know that I will be back later. Neither Elijah nor I will let anything happen to Niklaus.

I arrive at the mansion and see Elijah seated, reading a book. "You are relaxing whilst Damon is on his way to dump Niklaus in the bloody Atlantic!" I yell as I walk in. He just smirks and closes his book. "Patience, Mariana. We will go to Elena's home soon, but not quite yet." I never understood Elijah's ways. I roll my eyes and walk upstairs. I change into something more cozy, and walk back downstairs, joining Elijah. untitled/set?id=171011018. A few minutes later, he gets up, puts the book away, and goes out the door without a word, I following behind.

We arrive at Elena's house again and Elena opens the door. Elijah and I both step inside. "Stefan…" Stefan walks up and says, "Elijah…" "Hello again," he responds.

Everybody is gathered around the table, Elijah on the end. "All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once he's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth. And Alaric will follow us." And you'll just… run." "We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half century while Elena's able to live out the rest of her natural life?" "Will you go with them?" Elena asks me. I nod, not being able to or wanting to explain myself. If my family is going to be in danger, so will I. "But we finally stopped Klaus. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back." "I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within your, nor even within your children's lifetimes. Perhaps it'll finally teach him some manners," Elijah says while straightening out the placemat, which makes me smirk. "But will you? Will you revive him? You are in love with him, right?" Elena asks me. "If it means you will return Niklaus's body, than I am willing to wait, Elena." "Why should she trust you? All you've done is screw her over." Matt asks Elijah. "And for that, I'm deeply ashamed. But know this – She could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight. So, Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not." "Not! Hello! Did that concussion give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!" Damon yells through the phone. "Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms. If you return Klaus' body to us… Elena will come to no harm. I will make sure of that," I respond. "Do we have a deal?" Elijah asks. "No! No, no, no, no. Did I mention, No!" Damon yells. "Elena, it's up to you," Stefan says. "Oh, come on!" Damon says. "Why do you want Klaus' body?" Elena asks. "He's my brother. We remain together." Elena takes a moment to think about this and says, "We have a deal." Later on, Jeremy tells us that Alaric spoke with him and told him to tell him where Niklaus's body is. "Damon's on his way to bury him in the woods off Route 12. I'll text you with the specifics," Jeremy lies as we all listen. "Thank you, Jeremy. You're doing the right thing for your sister." "I know." Jeremy hangs up and says, "He bought it." Elijah then sends Rebekah and I to get the body from Damon.

"Damon!" Rebekah starts yelling as soon as we arrive. "Damon, where are you?"

"Damon! This isn't funny!" I yell. I then feel Damon grab me from behind and say, "Shh." Soon enough, we are wheeling the coffin out to the garage. Alaric quickly speeds up and grabs Rebekah's head, smashing it into the car. I flash up to him but he throws me across the room. Damon then speeds up and tries to lunge at him, but is kicked back. I see Alaric open the coffin so I speed up once more but he throws me back. I hold up my hand and start to give him a migraine. He holds his temples in pain for a moment, but quickly recovers. He speeds up to me and grabs me by the throat, pushing me up against the wall. I whisper a spell and send him across the room, but he quickly recuperates. He speeds over and painfully and slowly pushes the steak into my heart. I quickly mumble a spell, trying to neutralize the steak. "Mwen La bois. Donne mu la bois la bois-" I am unable to finish, as the pain is unfathomable. I scream out and feel my body begin to heat up. Fire rapidly spreads across my body as I continue shrieking. The final thing I am able to see is Alaric tearing the deadly weapon from my chest and stabbing it in Niklaus's. Everything instantly goes black, and the only thing I am able to hear is Rebekah's shrill screams filling the air.

 _I immediately open my eyes and notice a large, empty forest. It is completely silent except for the birds' songs. I am back to where I was for the majority of my time on earth – dead._


	19. 19 Waking Up Insane

IMPORTANT A/N: I am changing Mariana's birth/death times

I have been following my friends from the other side, as I did long ago. Since I died, Elena has turned into a vampire, due to Rebekah's attempt to avenge Niklaus and I. Niklaus ended up faking the dead and being briefly placed into Tyler's body. Everybody, besides Kol, is on the hunt for some mystical cure, all for conflicting reasons. Elena is sired to Damon, what a shocker. And lastly, Kol has compelled Damon to kill Jeremy, who is plotting with Elena to kill Kol. I am just hoping that Kol is smart enough to realize this before walking into a death trap.

(The Originals 1x22)

In such a short amount of time, I watch from the doorway as Kol prepared to chop off Jeremy's arms, making him unable to find the cure and risk waking Silas. I then see Elena speeding up and lunging the knife into his heart. I watch as Jeremy sprays Kol with the vervain water from the faucet, and then, I watch them kill him.

I have spent what feels like many centuries on the other side. It feels much longer than the millennium I endured previously. Niklaus and Elijah are making home in New Orleans whilst Rebekah is off living her life freely. I am sitting on the church bench, watching painfully as Hope is born. I want very badly to slowly kill each and every one of those hypocritical, narcissistic, venomous, baby killing- It isn't worth it, is it? It isn't worth plotting revenge for the rest of eternity. And here I was, thinking that I would be upset about the fact that Niklaus and Hayley had a child, but she is just charming. There are only two of my species, what I like to call a "trybrid," being a vampire/werewolf/witch hybrid, and I just cannot bring myself to hate one of my own. More importantly, she puts a smile on my Elijah and Niklaus's faces. That is all I can ask for.

I watch as Genevieve and her _posse_ walk out of the church with a dead Hayley and temporarily dead Niklaus in her wake. I want to scream. I want to scream as loud as I possibly can, and attach that bitch, but I know it will make no difference.

I instantly appear far from the church, and in a small building, with two men and a young girl staring directly at me. But I know it is impossible – they cannot see me. "Hello, Mariana," The young girl says. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Mari," A man with brown curly hair, a strong accent, and a familiar smirk says. "Kol."

2x01

I have never been to New Orleans. Walking around with Kol, I see such a lively community. Esther put me in a purely witch's body, but I plan to go back to my own as soon as it is safe to do so. "So you like it here?" Kol asks as he swipes two apples, making the others fall and handing one to me. "It is beautiful here. I love it." "As do I, and yet, it isn't the same with Esther here to lean over our shoulders, ordering us around." "Are you going to follow her?" I ask. "You're kidding, right? Of course I won't. As soon as I know that this body is safe to live in, we will take her down. I don't particularly like taking orders from her." "You never have, Kol." "That's not my name, remember?" "Yes, sorry. _Kaleb."_ I then see somebody staring at me from across the street. "You see that?" I ask in a low voice. "Hang here, I'll be just a second." He nods hesitantly and I walk over. "Can I help you?" I ask as soon as I am in earshot and approaching. "That's how you approach me? _Can I help you?_ That's what you have to say to me after everything?" The man says. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" The man scoffs and then holds out his hand, giving me a headache. I scream in pain, and yet not too many people notice. I try to fight back but am pulled to the ground by some invisible force. I see more witches appear, and the pain grows to an unbearable level. I then vaguely see a woman come up and snap their necks with a flick of the wrist. She then holds out a hand and I reluctantly grab it. "You helped me. Why?" "You needed help," She says. "I'm Davina." "M- Jenna. I'm Jenna." "Why did those witches attack you?" "I have no idea. I have never seen them before in my life." "You new to town?" "Yea, something like that."

A few nights later, I hear Niklaus wandering through the cemetery. "What happened to decorum?" He yells. "Does no one greet their guests anymore?" I hear as the _enslaved_ wolves jump down from their hiding places. "Well that's more like it," Niklaus says in a smug voice. "Although I am disappointed at how many of my once formidable brethren have been neutered by a sixteen year old girl. Where is she? Where is this witch who dares craft moonlight rings without my permission?" "Niklaus!" Esther says as she walks through the crowd, "I've been expecting you." They go in and discuss many boring things that I don't bother to listen in on. Instead, I go to the restaurant Kol and Davina are in. I arrive as everybody is clearing out. I see Finn and ask him, "What are you planning, _Vincent_? _"_ "As I told Kol, the way to find the weapon is to provoke her to use it." I see a wolf come and threaten Davina so I try to go, but Finn holds me back and pulls me out of the clearing. She puts him down for a moment but he quickly recovers and pushes her to the ground. I want to growl, and then rip his head off, but I know I cannot. He then throws Kol across the room. I see Finn has gone to I come out of the clearing and with a flick of the wrist, I toss him across the room. Others start to come at me and I begin to fight them off, with some of Davina's help, but am quickly overpowered. I see her mutter a spell while chanting, and then Mikael appears. I scurry over to where Kol is and whisper, "Oh my god." I then see Davina's bracelet be knocked off and he try to attack her. Elijah quickly speeds in and throws him off of Davina and to the wall. I exchange looks with Kol. "Father." "Hello son. I had hoped to see your brother first but we have some unfinished business as well." They exchange punches and the stake is unleashed. Marcel speeds up and is about to take Davina away but she tells him to get her bracelet. She commands Mikael to go back, and then storms off in a petty fit of rage. Kol and I just stare at Elijah as he says, "Something to say?" "Not us, mate. Not a bloody thing," Kol responds. My phone starts to ring so I awkwardly laugh and pick it up. _"Where are you two, Jenna?"_ Finn scolds. "Just a bit held up, that is all," I say with a smile.


End file.
